Letters

Contents

All five books are published (Possinus numbering, PG 78). About 400 letters lost their headings in the scan and are printed inside the preceding passage, marked [Letter N]; in a few stretches the numbering is uncertain (see the notes).

Reading pages: 1.1–1.49 · 1.50–1.84 · 1.85–1.128 · 1.129–1.171 · 1.174–1.212 · 1.213–4.129 · 1.214–1.280 · 1.282–1.338 · 1.339–1.393 · 1.394–1.454 · 1.457–2.5 · 2.6–2.46 · 2.49–2.73 · 2.74–2.92 · 2.94–2.123 · 2.124–2.140 · 2.142–2.150 · 2.151–2.179 · 2.180–2.215 · 2.216–2.241 · 2.242–2.275 · 2.276–3.10 · 3.11–3.35 · 3.36–3.74 · 3.75 · 3.77–3.102 · 3.104–3.130 · 3.131–3.160 · 3.161–3.193 · 3.194–3.221 · 3.222–3.251 · 3.252–3.280 · 3.281–3.317 · 3.319–3.349 · 3.351–3.389 · 3.390–4.6 · 4.10–4.29 · 4.30–4.57 · 4.58–4.75 · 4.76–4.93 · 4.99–4.114 · 4.119–4.128 · 4.130–4.149 · 4.152–4.171 · 4.173–4.202 · 4.204–4.221 · 4.223–5.26 · 5.28–5.69 · 5.71–5.118 · 5.119–5.160 · 5.161–5.185 · 5.186–5.216 · 5.217–5.256 · 5.257–5.296 · 5.297–5.340 · 5.341–5.387 · 5.388–5.443 · 5.444–5.484 · 5.485–5.555 · 5.556–5.569

1. 1.1Renunciation means forgetting one's former will and habits, and obedience means putting to death the earthly members.
2. 1.2The "coals kindled" from God in the psalm are the saints, set aflame by union with God, who is a consuming fire.
3. 1.3Seeming is not being: act, do not only talk.
4. 1.4This life is an invisible arena where we fight the passions; victory wins crowns, here often and in the age to come certainly.
5. 1.5John the Baptist's hair garment and plant-tip food are the model of ascetic life; the weaker should follow their superior's direction.
6. 1.6The cup in the Lord's hand is just recompense tempered with mercy; its undrained dregs mean that those who despise salvation will still face judgment.
7. 1.7Mary's Davidic descent follows from Joseph's genealogy, since the law required marriage within the tribe, and Paul says the Lord arose from Judah.
8. 1.8Ascetic labor must be measured: the healthy flesh needs discipline, but a weakened soul needs help.
9. 1.9Night fantasies come from daytime encounters and careless habit, and are checked by sober watchfulness; a second letter says nothing is dearer to God than love, which is why the first disciples called were brothers.
10. 1.11Like Socrates, who did not strike back when beaten, bear insult calmly; magnanimity may even change the offender.
11. 1.12A rebuke of arrogance beyond one's station.
12. 1.13A monk who has turned back from his vocation is warned by the example of Simon Magus and urged to keep his covenant with the Lord.
13. 1.14The spiritual life is advanced by deeds rather than by fine speech.
14. 1.15A once-humble monk now grown haughty is reminded that pride casts down even from heaven, as it did the Morning Star.
15. 1.16Elisha's healing of Jericho's waters with salt is a type of Christ healing barren humanity through the apostles' teaching.
16. 1.17Christ turned away the would-be follower because he knew his heart was set on evil, lest his unchanged wickedness scandalize believers.
17. 1.18"Until" in Matt 1:25 does not imply later intercourse, as other scriptural uses of "until" show, and many signs attest Mary's lasting virginity; a second letter explains that Daniel was kept out of the furnace so that the Babylonians could not credit their god, whose name he bore.
18. 1.20Against the Pneumatomachi: Christ's command to baptize in the one name of the Trinity teaches the Spirit's oneness of essence; one who rejects Christ's teaching will not be moved by ours.
19. 1.21Isidore sends Ammonius the Old and New Testaments to compare with the pagan theogonies; a second letter tells a man who covets the priesthood to amend his life or give up the desire.
20. 1.23"Every firstborn that opens the womb" refers properly to Christ alone, who opened his mother's womb at birth and left it sealed: truly man, truly God, one from two natures.
21. 1.24Scripture must be studied with care and reverence; Uzziah's leprosy for rashly entering the sanctuary is a warning.
22. 1.25Outward solitude is useless if the mind returns to worldly cares; the soldier of Christ must not be entangled in the affairs of life.
23. 1.26If the bishop Eusebius sells ordinations, as reported, he is like Hophni and Phinehas, for whom no one could intercede.
24. 1.27A palace eunuch who reads Scripture but covets others' goods is told to let his reading change his life.
25. 1.28Not everything desired can be had; Zosimus's shameless pursuit of the priesthood (continued in the next passage).
26. 1.29One who forces his way into the priesthood must learn that God's temple is closed to the morally leprous until they are cleansed.
27. 1.30The archdeacon Lucius, who should be the bishop's eye, is rebuked for enriching himself from the sale of ordinations.
28. 1.31The bishop is a watchman who must warn his people, but must not sell ordinations, ignore candidates' lives, or blame others, as Adam blamed Eve.
29. 1.34Office and life are brief; a governor should be known for good deeds rather than earn eternal punishment.
30. 1.35The priest is a lamp God sets on a lampstand to light the church by doctrine and life.
31. 1.36John is greatest of those born of women because he prophesied from the womb, and more than a prophet because he saw in the flesh the one the prophets foresaw.
32. 1.37John's question "Are you the one who is coming?" was asked for his doubting disciples, whom Christ convinced by his miracles.
33. 1.38Theodosius is urged to temper power with gentleness and to give away wealth; a second letter rebukes the eunuch Antiochus for building a church at Pelusium with money gained by injustice.
34. 1.39A savage-living priest is told either to become humane or to withdraw from the altar, since his conduct brings reproach on the church.
35. 1.40A city may suffer for its leader's sin, as in David's census; those who chose the unworthy bishop Eusebius share the consequences.
36. 1.41A soldier who swaggers armed in the city while buying his way out of real service is told to go and fight the barbarians.
37. 1.44A wandering monk is compared to a timid hare and to the restless Euripus; a second letter reads Isaiah's coal and tongs as the divinity and the sinless flesh of the incarnate Word.
38. 1.46Abraham's oath "under the thigh" pointed to Christ, who would take flesh from his descendants; a second letter warns a bishop that misusing the food of the poor is sacrilege.
39. 1.47A bishop who brings noise and lawless ordinations into the sanctuary is warned by the linen garments of Aaron's priests; two further letters urge a scholasticus to join word and deed and a governor to temper authority with gentleness.
40. 1.48Christ's enrollment in the womb and his payment of the tax teach submission to authority, so poverty is no excuse to refuse taxes.
41. 1.49An archimandrite is told that his monks must work with their hands, as Christ's parable and Paul's teaching and example require.
42. 1.50Jeremiah's rod of nut-wood signifies the priesthood: bitter on the outside, firm and sustaining within.
43. 1.51Christ cursed the fig tree to show that he could also punish; an old tradition also takes it as the tree of the first transgression, cursed so it would bear no more sin.
44. 1.52Abstaining from foods for training in virtue is blameless, but abstaining as the Manichees and Marcionites do, regarding God's creatures as evil, excludes one from the community.
45. 1.53Amos's "naked man will flee" foretells the young man who fled at Christ's arrest, and more deeply signifies the soul unburdened by the flesh that rises easily to eternal life.
46. 1.54Against the objection that Christians, like the pagans, have a "mother of God": the pagan mother of the gods conceived in lust, while Mary conceived without seed or corruption, and her Son's miracles and resurrection show he is God made flesh.
47. 1.55Defense of the veneration of martyrs' relics by the healings they work; the real defilement is the pagans' deification of wicked men buried in the temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
48. 1.56Christ's foreknowledge did not cause Judas's betrayal; he foretold it because he saw the plot already in Judas's heart.
49. 1.57The old wineskins are those who reject the new grace, like Caiaphas tearing his clothes; Peter, who confessed Christ when asked, shows the new.
50. 1.58Thanks for a gift of vegetables, a sign of a simple monastic diet.
51. 1.59Blasphemy against the Son of Man is pardonable because his Godhead was hidden in the flesh; blasphemy against the Spirit is not, because it attributed to Beelzebul works whose divine power was plain.
52. 1.60Christ's "Spirit of God" (Matthew) is called "finger of God" in Luke; as a finger belongs to the body's substance, the Spirit is of the divine essence.
53. 1.61Zosimus, who quotes Basil but lives otherwise, is told to read Basil's homily against drunkards and see himself in it.
54. 1.62Speech that edifies imitates God; speech aimed at applause is a clanging cymbal.
55. 1.63A hermit is warned that reading pagan literature, full of passions, can reopen old wounds and invite the evil spirit back.
56. 1.64The axe at the root is the Gospel's division, which cuts down the fruitless trees but leaves the root, the law, onto which the new people is grafted.
57. 1.65The threshing floor is the church, the winnowing fork God's just judgment, which burns the chaff and gathers the fruitful into the heavenly dwelling.
58. 1.66Christ told John to baptize him because the time of the incarnation was a time of humility, and he received baptism for humanity's cleansing.
59. 1.67At Christ's baptism the Father's voice showed him the true Son and revealed the three hypostases of the Trinity, refuting Montanus and Sabellius.
60. 1.68John, perfect under the law, is less than the least of the baptized, who share Christ's death and resurrection, because the law perfected nothing.
61. 1.69Against a drunkard: Scripture shows gluttony ruining Adam, Esau, Saul, Israel, Hophni and Phinehas, while fasting and abstinence saved Noah in the ark, the Ninevites, Daniel, John, and Paul.
62. 1.70Mastering the belly means mastering the passions; age is no excuse for indulgence.
63. 1.71The law's ban on "work of service" on the holy day forbids the slavery of sin, while "what is done for every soul" commands works that profit the soul.
64. 1.72The priests profane the Sabbath by labor but are guiltless because their work is the sacrifice the law commands.
65. 1.73God's not sparing his sanctuaries in a disaster follows the precedent of the ark and Jerusalem, and is meant to bring sinners to fear.
66. 1.74Monks should not wear soft and fine clothing; Christ's simple seamless tunic and John's camel-hair garment are the models.
67. 1.75Christ's victory over temptation in the desert encourages a tempted hermit; a second letter says he refused to turn stones into bread because the request was idle; a third commends withdrawal from the city, since Christ blessed the pure on the mountain.
68. 1.78A soldier who robs travelers is warned by the deaths of well-armed men without justice, from Goliath to Hector, and told to fight the spiritual war against his own disorder.
69. 1.79Like the scribes who mistook studying the law for keeping it, clergy who think serving at the altar enough are warned that the Gospel's righteousness judges even intentions.
70. 1.80The "adversary" with whom we must make peace on the way is the body's appetite against the spirit, which we must watch lest it deliver us to the Judge.
71. 1.81The psalm verse is the prayer of the martyrs that the throne of the persecutors not prevail against God's commandment.
72. 1.82Israel was defeated at first in the war against Gibeah because many who went to punish Benjamin's immorality were themselves guilty; only the innocent won the victory.
73. 1.83The eye and hand to be cut off are close associates who bring scandal; they must be separated lest they corrupt the whole body.
74. 1.84Not letting the left hand know means doing good without vainglory, seeking future crowns, not present applause.
75. 1.85"Your will be done on earth as in heaven" is a prayer for the strife-free peace of the heavenly powers to be given on earth.
76. 1.86True nobility is virtue, not birth; a second letter urges Alexandrian nuns to chastity by the examples of Susanna, Jephthah's daughter, Judith and Thecla, and to keep their lamps lit for the Bridegroom.
77. 1.88If the Pharisee, who did good, was condemned for boasting, one who boasts without doing good deserves worse.
78. 1.89A bishop is advised to avoid conversations with women, as David fell by looking; a second letter says the apostles allowed women to sing in church to stop chatter, but since the singing now stirs passions, such ascetic women should be stopped from singing and from living in the city.
79. 1.91Four letters: an encouragement to a monk to hold fast and avoid pride; a warning that the monastic habit is useless amid the city's crowds; James's "not many teachers" applied to monks; and "naked and laid bare" explained from the flaying of sacrificial victims.
80. 1.95Christ wore the thorns, the crop of the curse, as a victor's crown; a second letter tells a pagan philosopher that true philosophy is love of the true wisdom, which reforms life, while pagan philosophy deifies shame and faces the punishments Plato himself described.
81. 1.97Christ's giving of the Spirit with power to forgive sins shows that the Spirit has divine authority, one with the Father and the Son.
82. 1.98Three letters: a monk who cannot bear insult cannot earn the vineyard's wage; a proud dux with nothing to be proud of is told to know himself; and a Novatianist's claim to purity is refuted from Isaiah and David.
83. 1.99A newly professed monk is praised and urged to keep watch like a soldier against the devil.
84. 1.102A reader is warned against teachers who, with fine words, lead the simple to confess one nature in Christ after the incarnation, which abolishes either the divine or the human.
85. 1.103Christ's threefold question to Peter cancelled his threefold denial.
86. 1.104Only one whose life meets Paul's standards should seek the episcopate; otherwise he approaches a consuming fire.
87. 1.105John called his hearers "offspring of vipers" because, like vipers said to devour their mother's womb, they repaid God's benefits with ingratitude.
88. 1.106The dove-sellers driven from the temple signify priests who sell the gifts of the Spirit, who appeared as a dove; "take these away" ends the blood sacrifices.
89. 1.107Christ added no new doctrine to the law and prophets but fulfilled them; everything in the New Testament is proclaimed in the Old.
90. 1.108Fine words without the living Word are a clanging cymbal.
91. 1.109The Spirit, named with Father and Son in baptism and making the bread Christ's body, cannot be a creature; a second letter says an ascetic must embrace every hardship and humbly remember his body's origin and end.
92. 1.111Zosimus, who bought his priesthood like a second Caiaphas, is still urged to repent.
93. 1.112A bishop who preaches well but lives otherwise is like a man throwing stones upward onto his own head.
94. 1.113Eusebius builds his church with money from selling the priesthood to Zosimus, a scandal known everywhere.
95. 1.114Three ways of counting Christ's three days and nights in the tomb, with the comparison of the commemoration of the dead on the third day; a second letter warns a monk returning to vice, like Israel going back to Egypt.
96. 1.116A governor is advised to let the threat of torture, rather than its use, serve in judging, since rulers are a terror to evildoers.
97. 1.117Christ did not ignore the day of judgment but declined to reveal it, so that we may watch every day; a second letter rebukes the presbyters Zosimus and Maron for defiling the priesthood.
98. 1.119Eusebius, who has ordained both Zosimus and Maron, multiplies simoniacs and shares the traitor's purse.
99. 1.120God's patience tolerates unworthy clergy; they will be judged, but the sanctuary is not defiled by their deeds.
100. 1.121Christ first went only to Israel to fulfil the promise to Abraham, and after Israel's rejection sent the apostles to all nations.
101. 1.122The liturgical greeting "Peace" imitates Christ's gift of peace; the response "And with your spirit" asks for undivided union with God.
102. 1.123The linen cloth on the altar recalls Joseph of Arimathea's shroud, and the bread consecrated on it is truly Christ's body; a second letter says the suffering belongs to God made flesh, not to bare Godhead.
103. 1.125The angel sought to kill Moses for leaving his son uncircumcised, and Zipporah's circumcision of the boy averted it, as parents in danger now hasten to baptize their children; two further letters explain the wisdom of the serpent and rebuke a man who owns books but does not read them.
104. 1.128An ignorant and proud man is told that his own bad grammar should humble him.
105. 1.129The monastic life is God's kingdom, from which a fall is hard to recover; two further letters say that gluttony and pride ruin discipline, and that Zacharias's dumbness signifies the silence of the law, from which the prophecies of Christ were born.
106. 1.130John's "locusts" were plant tips and his wild honey the bitter honey of wild bees, signs of his severe austerity.
107. 1.131A newly appointed governor is told to use both his character and his office, God's gifts, in God's service.
108. 1.132If neither heaven nor hell moves Zosimus, admonishing him is like charming a wild beast.
109. 1.135Lust enslaves, as Samson's blinding shows; a second letter explains the deacons' linen as Christ's foot-washing and the bishop's woolen omophorion as the lost sheep on the Shepherd's shoulders, laid aside when the Gospel is read.
110. 1.136Christ refused the sons of Zebedee the places beside him not from inability but because rewards go to those who toil, not to those who ask.
111. 1.138Against a Sabellian: in "I and the Father are one", "one" shows the one essence and the plural "are" the two hypostases.
112. 1.139Paul's "did not count equality with God a thing to be seized" corrects pagan ideas of gods seizing power: Christ possessed the Godhead by nature, and without leaving heaven came to earth and to Hades to save all.
113. 1.140An aged sinner is urged to repent, for the last hour, the harvest, and the judge are at hand.
114. 1.141Eve's formation from Adam without intercourse shows that the virgin birth is not impossible; a second letter intercedes with a master for a runaway slave, urging forgiveness of great offenses as Christ forgave.
115. 1.143Commending a monk who has left pagan reading for Scripture, Isidore explains "do not give what is holy to dogs" as a warning against admitting the unrepentant and relapsing to the mysteries.
116. 1.144One who chose the narrow way should not walk the broad road to death.
117. 1.145Miracles done by the unworthy in Christ's name will not save them from judgment; two further letters explain that the cleansed leper's offering shows the agreement of the Testaments, and that the many from east and west join the patriarchs while the proud sons of the kingdom are cast out.
118. 1.148Office joined to good will imitates the heavenly order; joined to bad purposes it becomes tyranny and turns the people's anger on the ruler.
119. 1.149Four letters: a bishop must oversee everything, and both he and his electors answer for unworthiness; a monastery is rebuked for a guest-master who beat travelers; an ignorant priest is told to learn; and the deposition of John Chrysostom is blamed on Theophilus of Alexandria.
120. 1.153"Do not go on the road of the Gentiles" means not sharing their thinking, not avoiding their company.
121. 1.154Monks are warned that the Ninevites, who repented at a type of Christ, will condemn those who have seen Christ and do not repent; a second letter argues that Christ's ban on swearing also forbids demanding oaths.
122. 1.155Isidore sends John Chrysostom's book on the priesthood, which shows both its dignity and how to exercise it blamelessly.
123. 1.157An archdeacon is told to serve meekly and not to trust in ill-gotten wealth, which will soon be lost.
124. 1.158A Cappadocian priest who bought his office is urged to imitate the great Cappadocians or at least not dishonor their ministry.
125. 1.159A bishop must let nothing distract from teaching the Gospel, as Christ put his hearers before his family and the apostles left the tables to others.
126. 1.160An Isaurian is praised for his character, devotion to Thecla and poverty, and urged to remain steadfast.
127. 1.161A short note of thanks for a letter and a gift.
128. 1.162John the Baptist's austerities are not enough without his mind; gentleness is the goal.
129. 1.163Fine phrases are a cymbal; doing good is angelic.
130. 1.164God opposes the proud as he opposed the devil.
131. 1.165A just governor is promised the heavenly ranks; a second letter warns one unmoved by Christ that the queen of the south will judge him; a third tells a quarrelsome man that he resembles a demon and will share its punishment.
132. 1.168Christ is the vine, the word of divine knowledge the wine, and his pierced side the mixing bowl of Wisdom.
133. 1.169The wine-dealers who water their wine (Isa 1:22) are the heretics who adulterate the apostles' pure teaching.
134. 1.170One who lives in sin yet receives communion is warned by the example of Judas.
135. 1.171Three letters: quarreling brothers are urged to make peace for nature's and baptism's sake; Abraham's chasm reflects the opposite lives of the hospitable and the pitiless; a wandering monk is likened to the dust of Ps 1.
136. 1.174A governor who forbade refuge in the church is rebuked for leaving the wronged without defense; further letters defend Isidore's right to reprove him and urge citizens not to feed his corrupt court.
137. 1.177Pelusium suffers under a corrupt governor and a corrupt clergy, each feeding the other's example.
138. 1.178A high official is asked to remove the governor Cyrenius, whose exactions oppress Pelusium, or share his guilt before God.
139. 1.179A widow is told that ornaments do not fit mourning; a second letter says knowledge of Scripture is worthless without deeds, as the devil's quoting of Scripture shows.
140. 1.181Peter's judgment on Ananias and Sapphira was a necessary severity at the Gospel's beginning, like the stoning of the Sabbath-breaker under Moses.
141. 1.182The merchant who buys the pearl is the new people of God, the pearl Christ; a second letter applies "those who go down to the sea in ships" to the apostles, fishers of men who calmed the sea of human affairs.
142. 1.184Zosimus is told that despising God's patience brings mockery here and grief hereafter; a second letter urges the bishop Eusebius to restrain his archdeacon Pansophius and correct himself.
143. 1.186Offerings should be given freely without scrutinizing how the priest uses them.
144. 1.187Givers should not audit the clergy's use of offerings; God will judge misuse, and examining it here only forfeits the giver's reward.
145. 1.188Since the world will be dissolved at the Lord's coming and all laid bare, repentance must not be put off until it is too late.
146. 1.189Honoring martyrs with gifts is good; imitating their lives is better.
147. 1.190Isidore sends back a runaway slave and asks his master to receive him kindly.
148. 1.191Fugitives from the governors' oppression fill the desert with complaints; a powerful friend is asked to stop the injustice.
149. 1.192Jacob grasping Esau's heel signifies the God-seeing mind overcoming gluttony, as Esau later sold his birthright for food.
150. 1.193Jacob's goatskins prefigure Christ, who took on sinful nature without sin and put its passions to death, winning the Father's blessing for us.
151. 1.194Evil thoughts come in when the soul's farmers sleep; a second letter explains why the angels are not allowed to uproot the tares, since God foresees repentance and descendants; a third defends the Israelites' despoiling of Egypt as wages for their labor.
152. 1.195Good works done for show forfeit their heavenly reward; a second letter explains the drowning of the Egyptian army as a fitting penalty for Pharaoh's killing of the Hebrew boys.
153. 1.196The mustard seed figures the kingdom by its lowliness, its small beginning, its sharpness, and its undivided wholeness, like the believer's union with God.
154. 1.200Amos's garments hung as curtains, and Malachi's altar covered with tears, signify the tears of the oppressed and contempt for God's house, which brought great evils; tears of repentance, however, are sweet to God.
155. 1.201The leaven of the parable is Christ's sinless incarnation, which leavens and renews all humanity.
156. 1.202A bishop is warned that praising young clergy may make them conceited and lax.
157. 1.203Noah, Lot and Herod show the evils of wine; a drinker is urged to moderation.
158. 1.204The kingdom, like a net, gathers people of every nation and saves them by faith and purity of life, not by birth or rank.
159. 1.205At the sorting of the net, those who kept the true faith enter the eternal dwellings and the heretics are cast out.
160. 1.206The coin in the fish signifies human nature covered by passions and restored by Christ, who paid the tax as one subject to our condition.
161. 1.207Becoming "like children" means acquiring childlike simplicity, not returning to childhood.
162. 1.208A governor is urged to adorn his office with gentleness and equal justice.
163. 1.209Allegorically, "render to Caesar" means casting off whatever belongs to the evil one, and "render to God" means acknowledging every good as God's gift.
164. 1.210The flight to the mountains in the last days is read spiritually: the godly must keep to their lofty refuge and not return to the passions or the old self.
165. 1.211The woe to pregnant and nursing women applies to souls too timid to confess God or too immature to endure persecution.
166. 1.212An ascetic is reminded of Scripture's promises: a hundredfold for voluntary poverty and an incorruptible crown for fighting the passions.
167. 1.213To a man whose wife has died: the Lord has loosed the bond; do not seek another wife (1 Cor 7:27), but save your soul and come to the monastic life.
168. 1.214An unlearned man is told not to preach doctrine, since his ignorance makes heretics mock the faith; a second letter urges the bishop Eusebius to give his ill-gotten gains to the poor.
169. 1.216Isidore thanks Zeno for a cloak, sends his own hair tunic for the poor, and protests against its being kept as a relic.
170. 1.217A blessing on Zeno for his generous gifts.
171. 1.218Daniel's first three beasts are the Assyrian, Median and Macedonian kingdoms; the fourth, like no animal, is the multinational Roman empire.
172. 1.219The Passover lamb roasted with fire prefigures Christ, whose flesh, united to the fire of the Godhead, we now eat for forgiveness.
173. 1.220The monks of Pelusium are told that the habit alone is nothing; they must keep solitude, stillness, self-control and freedom from passion.
174. 1.221"Baptized for the dead" means baptized for our mortal bodies, in faith that they will be raised incorruptible.
175. 1.222Three explanations of Christ judging "the living and the dead": soul and body together, the righteous and the sinners, and those alive at his coming and those already dead.
176. 1.223Three clerics unmoved by heaven or hell are likened to demons or lifeless images.
177. 1.224Isidore, recovering against his hope of death, asks a monk's prayers.
178. 1.225Congratulations to a new governor whose justice is evident.
179. 1.226Isidore tells the council of Pelusium that the new governor Simplicius will relieve their hardships.
180. 1.227A monk who still admires Athenian philosophy and boasts is told to set his mind on things above, lest his pride bring reproach on the faith.
181. 1.228Receiving the sacrament is called "communion" because it unites us to Christ and makes us sharers in his kingdom.
182. 1.229A man's almsgiving did not protect him because God does not accept gifts from ill-gotten wealth.
183. 1.230Cain's rejected offering shows that God looks at the giver's disposition.
184. 1.231Gentleness brings honor and boldness danger; choose the better part.
185. 1.232A bishop is encouraged to defend his people actively against enemies, as Phinehas did.
186. 1.233A violent man is warned that Christ abhors men of blood, as his withdrawal after John's murder by Herod shows.
187. 1.234A man who reads Scripture but lives with a prostitute is reminded that marriage is honorable and that God will judge the sexually immoral.
188. 1.235Christ asked who people said he was in order to elicit Peter's confession, the foundation on which he built his church.
189. 1.236Peter's confession "the Christ, the Son of God" expresses the union of the two natures.
190. 1.237The envious are punished in this life and the next, as Jezebel's end shows.
191. 1.238The "gates of Hades" are persecutions and heresies, which cannot prevail against the church.
192. 1.239The transfiguration foreshadows our resurrection, and Moses and Elijah attest Christ's lordship over the dead and the living.
193. 1.240God is not the author of evil; his patience with the sinner, keeping him alive for repentance, proves it.
194. 1.241Since God never changes, he is always Father, so the Son is co-eternal.
195. 1.242The Montanist heresy is old and ruinous, charged with sorcery, child-murder, adultery and idolatry, and must be shunned.
196. 1.243The Montanists deny that the Spirit came at Pentecost and claim he came through Montanus.
197. 1.244Montanist fasting is worthless without sound doctrine, which matters more than ascetic practice.
198. 1.245Knowing the heresies helps us find the true faith; Montanus and Mani are twin evils.
199. 1.246Arius and Eunomius vied in blasphemy, calling the Son a creature and a servant.
200. 1.247Sabellius's teaching of one three-faced hypostasis abolishes the Trinity; the Godhead is one, the hypostases three.
201. 1.248God's name "East" is his eternal Godhead; his "riding upon the west" is the incarnation, his sharing in human lowliness.
202. 1.249The cup of wrath given to Israel through its enemies did not reform it, but Christ's cup on the cross healed bitterness and brought joy.
203. 1.250A lament over the clergy's abuses: bishoprics seized by force, nepotism, theft from the poor, and unworthy men brought into the sanctuary.
204. 1.251The mock robe put on Christ exposed earthly power as a toy and, by touching him, became a sign of his everlasting reign.
205. 1.252The tearing of the temple veil at Christ's death opened the way into the holy place to the nations.
206. 1.253The rocks split and the tombs opened at the crucifixion to show that the crucified is Lord of earth and the underworld.
207. 1.254The rocks that split at the crucifixion rebuke those who remained unmoved.
208. 1.255The two thieves represent the unrepentant Jewish people and the believing Gentiles.
209. 1.256Christ crucified between two thieves came for both peoples, though one refused him.
210. 1.257Zacharias's dumbness signifies the law falling silent when the Gospel dawned.
211. 1.258Novice monks should be trained gradually, neither overburdened nor left idle.
212. 1.259John's hyperbole that the world could not contain the books means that man, a little world, cannot take in the greatness of Christ's miracles.
213. 1.260A new monk should not follow his own will but submit to experienced elders, as one would to masters of any craft.
214. 1.261Wickedness is profitless; Eubulus ("Well-counseled") should live up to his name and flee it.
215. 1.262The bishop Eusebius is criticized for letting untrained herdsmen and runaway slaves found monasteries.
216. 1.263A deacon who abused his power and lost it is reminded of the psalm on the fall of the wicked; a second letter urges a monk, as a target of the devil, to put on the Spirit's armor.
217. 1.265Bodily stature is no ground for pride, as the giants of Scripture show.
218. 1.266To one asking how to be a monk, Isidore answers with Christ's call to deny oneself and take up the cross.
219. 1.267Asked about the soul after death, Isidore answers that the good rise to life and the wicked go to eternal fire.
220. 1.268The apostles' lack of learning shows the Gospel's power.
221. 1.269A presbyter-steward who takes church funds for himself is reminded that the first Christians gave their goods to the church for the poor.
222. 1.270Paganism, with all its resources, has vanished, while the faith, spread by the simple, conquered the world.
223. 1.271Evil is not natural to human nature but comes through the will's choice.
224. 1.272Christ, the second Adam, restored the form lost by the first.
225. 1.273The psalm's preference for praise over sacrifice foretells spiritual worship replacing the sacrifices.
226. 1.274Beauty fades like grass and wealth flows away like water; they are no ground for pride.
227. 1.275A Pelusiote who gained the tax-collector's office by slander oppresses his own city, like a viper devouring its mother.
228. 1.276One attached to wealth and fame should despise them or prepare to bear their loss.
229. 1.277Heavy drinking ruins mind and body; moderation brings health and sobriety.
230. 1.278Ascetic life is the embodiment of all the commandments, marked by humility, service, prayer and obedience to an experienced superior.
231. 1.279Paul, who heard the secrets of paradise, excludes drunkards from the kingdom.
232. 1.280Anger was given as a helper against sloth, not for revenge; a second letter, in a polemical outburst against one Gigantius, applies the ancient ill repute of the Cappadocians to him.
233. 1.282The eagles gathering where the "fall" (carcass) is signifies the restoration to paradise, where humanity fell by eating, of those who rise by fasting and self-control.
234. 1.283As the devil fell from the angels and Judas from the apostles, so at Christ's coming the earnest will be taken and the careless left.
235. 1.284God who creates from nothing can raise bodies from the earth, as seeds and the seasons show.
236. 1.285The two women at the mill are people in the same pursuit with different motives: those who seek God's reward are taken, those who seek praise are left.
237. 1.286The foolish virgins show that virginity without compassion and the other virtues, especially humility, is useless.
238. 1.287The five talents are the gifts and senses of human nature; those who use them well will be set over cities in proportion to their work.
239. 1.288Sheep and goats at the judgment signify gentle and savage ways of life.
240. 1.289Christ's prayer to be spared the cup shows his true humanity and teaches us not to court danger but to endure it when it comes.
241. 1.290A governor who rules justly, impartially, is God's friend.
242. 1.291Peter's cutting off the ear signifies the deafness of the priests to the law; a second letter says the city that killed the prophets naturally freed the murderer Barabbas and crucified the Author of life.
243. 1.292The Gospel is wine flowing from Christ's side; those who rejected it gave him vinegar and gall.
244. 1.293A commander is told that justice wins wars and injustice aids the enemy.
245. 1.295Those who keep nature's limits honor it; those who break the law incur its fear.
246. 1.296Lawful sexual union is natural; sexual immorality is a frenzy against nature checked by the law's fear.
247. 1.297A murderer who boasts of his deed is told that no law, war or divine command authorized it, and that he must make amends or face eternal punishment.
248. 1.298An archimandrite gathering many idle monks is warned by Jeremiah's partridge to make them work or reduce their number.
249. 1.299Isidore asks the prefect to forgive a shipmaster's debt for grain lost in a storm, as we ask God to forgive us.
250. 1.300A recommendation for the shipmaster Bonus to the prefect's assistant.
251. 1.301The psalm's rod disciplines the sinner and the staff supports the discouraged; a second letter urges a monk to imitate the athletes of the community.
252. 1.303Evil comes from the will, not nature; Adam fell and Christ, truly God and truly man, one Son from two natures, restored him.
253. 1.304Isidore declines to explain holy things to a man of bad life until he reforms, since a defiled mind cannot grasp them.
254. 1.305"My soul cleaves to the dust" expresses both the soul's union with the earthly body and the psalmist's humble repentance.
255. 1.306A slave of good character is free in mind, and Paul promises slaves the same reward as masters.
256. 1.307Isidore rejoices that the bishop Leontius has been brought back from the brink of death to continue shepherding his flock.
257. 1.308The ascetic life is a war against the devil's fiery arrows, requiring constant watchfulness.
258. 1.309A monk with an uncontrolled tongue is like a fortress with an open gate.
259. 1.310Isidore warns Cyril of Alexandria at the Council of Ephesus not to act from personal enmity, as many accuse him of imitating his uncle Theophilus's attack on Chrysostom.
260. 1.311Isidore urges Theodosius II to attend the Council of Ephesus himself and to stop his officials from interfering in doctrine, for the church built on the rock cannot be overcome.
261. 1.312In the parable of the barren fig tree, the Son intercedes for humanity, offering his teaching and passion before the final judgment.
262. 1.313A drunken priest is reminded that the wine he abuses is what the Spirit makes into Christ's blood.
263. 1.314An elderly monk who wanders from monastery to monastery in search of good food is told to go to the cities instead.
264. 1.315A bishop forced into office will have God's help; one who bought it is a Simon and a Caiaphas.
265. 1.316Parents are saved through raising their children well, who deserve more care than colts.
266. 1.317Thanks for gifts of firstfruits and tithes.
267. 1.318Isidore intercedes for a runaway monk, asking pardon if he is not a habitual offender, but otherwise his exclusion from the community.
268. 1.319A priest, as the model and light of the flock, should avoid jesting and laughter, like the angels.
269. 1.320Esau is called sexually immoral as well as profane because gluttony leads to lust.
270. 1.321David punished "in the mornings" so that judgment would be sober, free from anger and drink.
271. 1.322Disputing with an ignorant man is as risky as traveling with a brawler; ignorance rules everywhere, and must be borne with patience.
272. 1.323Isidore reminds Cyril that the true God became truly man, one Son from two natures, as Athanasius taught.
273. 1.324Isidore warns Cyril against seeming to change his position out of fear or flattery, unlike the saints who endured exile rather than admit heresy.
274. 1.325A young monk is told to bridle his tongue; two further letters rebuke a lawless soldier, John, and a man who robs monks and farmers and teaches false doctrine.
275. 1.328Paul lists anger before blasphemy; an angry man should expect to be called a blasphemer.
276. 1.329One whose tongue pours out abuse is directed to the living water that guards the tongue.
277. 1.330Psalm 139's "bone made in secret" is read as Adam speaking of Eve; a second letter reads "my unwrought substance" as God's foreknowledge or Adam's innocence; a third rebukes an ally of the bishop Eusebius.
278. 1.331If disgrace grows with the number of witnesses, consider the shame of giving account before all humanity and the angels.
279. 1.332Sirach's "weep for the dead" refers to those spiritually dead in sin, who miss the light to come.
280. 1.335One who meant well but failed should be honored for his intent; a second letter rebukes a glutton who makes his belly his god.
281. 1.336Isidore explains the place names Forum of Appius and Three Taverns in Acts.
282. 1.338Against a Novatian who denies the priests' power to forgive sins: if that divine grant is void, all Christian hope is vain.
283. 1.339A Novatian should not anticipate God's judgment by refusing repentance to sinners, but call them to it.
284. 1.340The rich man's punishment in Scripture warns against loving wealth and neglecting charity.
285. 1.341The bishop Eusebius, who indulges every passion, is reminded of the command to gird the loins and keep the lamps burning.
286. 1.342True humility is of mind and deed, not merely of speech.
287. 1.343Scripture shows that God made the angels, waters and clouds, and his goodness appears in his care for both good and evil.
288. 1.344God's chastisement is admonition rather than anger; speaking of his anger expresses his condescension to us.
289. 1.345Isidore refuses to flatter a glutton and urges him to quench his appetite before it leads to the fire.
290. 1.346Paul's three days of blindness prepared him like a mordant for the purple; a second letter warns two clerics unmoved by correction.
291. 1.348Those who adorn the church with gifts while persecuting its bishop act from vainglory, like those who honored the temple and stoned the prophets.
292. 1.349Even a negligent priest is God's minister in the sacraments; givers should not dishonor him, for he will answer for himself.
293. 1.350Natural knowledge of good leaves no excuse for luxury; two further letters, in a polemic against certain Cappadocians, argue that the great Cappadocian fathers prove the vices of the others are chosen, not natural.
294. 1.353"The Son can do nothing of himself" shows not weakness but the identity of will, and so of essence, between Father and Son.
295. 1.354Paul's blinding of Elymas was a healing discipline modeled on his own conversion; a second letter reads the two days of washing at Sinai as the two Testaments leading to the resurrection; a third makes Peter's three denials a figure of humanity's three rejections of God.
296. 1.357The cockcrow before dawn signified the approaching day of the resurrection and the end of the night of the curse.
297. 1.358The three years of fruitlessness in the fig-tree parable also point to humanity's threefold rejection, healed by Christ.
298. 1.359The three rejections of God: Adam's disobedience, the golden calf, and the refusal of Christ.
299. 1.360Christ is the bread of life both as food of salvation and as having united human nature to his Godhead, like dough baked in fire.
300. 1.361Delicacies pass with the swallowing; excess breeds disease now and judgment later.
301. 1.362Jacob's crossed hands in blessing Ephraim and Manasseh prefigured the cross and the preference of the new people.
302. 1.363Elizabeth spoke the unborn John's recognition of Christ, lending him her voice.
303. 1.364The instruments of Psalm 150 signify the mortified flesh, the harmony of the church, the senses and the whole person tuned to God.
304. 1.365Jacob, meaning to foretell the incarnation to his sons, was made by God to forget, since they were unworthy of the mystery.
305. 1.366Isaiah's words to Jacob about his "hidden way" are applied to Jacob's withheld prophecy.
306. 1.367Nuns are warned against frequent visits to the city, which weaken ascetic life.
307. 1.368Pride cannot coexist with the monastic life; it belongs to the devil, who rebelled against God.
308. 1.369Isidore commends the canonical Scriptures read in church above all other writings, leaving apocryphal books to others.
309. 1.370Isidore warns Cyril of Alexandria, as Eli's and Jonathan's examples oblige him to, to end the quarrels and not split the church to avenge personal wrongs.
310. 1.371Marcion's gospel cuts out Christ's genealogy and reverses "I came not to destroy the law", setting the Testaments at enmity.
311. 1.372A monk who began well and grew slack is like seed on rocky ground or an unfinished tower.
312. 1.373Since nothing can separate us from Christ, small trials for his sake must be borne with firmness.
313. 1.374Following Christ, who sought no glory from men, we should reject vainglory; true glory is God's gift.
314. 1.375Whoever wants the kingdom promised to the poor should accept poverty gladly.
315. 1.376Poverty is not true want: John the Baptist and Lazarus are blessed, while the rich man burns.
316. 1.377Every circumstance of Christ's birth was extraordinary, including the star whose unusual course led the Magi.
317. 1.378The star stood over the child, so it must have moved unlike other stars, pointing to the cave and manger.
318. 1.379Whether Christian, Jew or pagan, Maron's own authorities teach that deeds will be judged.
319. 1.380Persistent sin compels God's goodness to turn to punishment, as Christ's lament over Jerusalem shows.
320. 1.381Not sinning is best, but repenting quickly is good; do not despair.
321. 1.382Isidore's rebukes are a mirror and a physician to two clerics, who should reform rather than resent him.
322. 1.383Surfeit breeds insolence and passion, as at the golden calf; eating should be necessary and measured.
323. 1.384Gluttony is literally "belly-madness"; we should eat God's gifts with measure and thanks.
324. 1.385Paul allowed a little wine for a weak stomach; a young healthy monk should not drink it, as it inflames the passions.
325. 1.386Prayer is made effective by good deeds, as David, Hezekiah and the widows of Joppa show; a second letter spells out that we receive from God as we act toward others.
326. 1.388A man incited by an informer against an old priest is warned not to become another Saul, killer of the priests.
327. 1.389Three letters: Isidore defends his fight against Arianism as a guard's duty; he urges a father not to send a gifted boy into the army; and he tells a physician to heal his own character.
328. 1.390An archimandrite is advised to remove a monk from serving guests, since handling food tempts to gluttony.
329. 1.391Water turned into wine at Cana signifies Christ perfecting the law's washings with his blood, uniting law and grace.
330. 1.392A teacher who sees no fruit loses heart; the questioner must first practice what he has learned.
331. 1.393Congratulations on an honorary statue, with a reminder of the incorruptible rewards Christ keeps.
332. 1.394A letter of recommendation for Abramius; a second letter argues that the wonders claimed for Apollonius of Tyana are not attested even by his biographer Philostratus.
333. 1.395A man who hoards books he does not read is like the grain-hoarder who was stoned; two further letters explain "he led captivity captive" and defend the church's offering of bread from the showbread of the inner sanctuary.
334. 1.402Knowledge of God needs solitude; amid commotion it is choked like seed among thorns.
335. 1.403Perfection needs all the virtues, as a picture needs many colors; fasting from food is useless without fasting of the senses.
336. 1.404Christ rose from the sealed tomb as he was born of a virgin; a second letter says the supernatural must not be judged by nature, since Christ is God made man, one Son in two natures.
337. 1.406The angel rolled away the stone after the resurrection, to show the seekers that Christ had risen and not been stolen.
338. 1.407Paul's observance of Jewish customs was accommodation for the sake of the Jews' salvation, not a return to the law.
339. 1.408Tears of repentance are a second baptism that gladdens the angels.
340. 1.409Christ spoke to Paul from heaven to show his gospel was heavenly; a second letter warns a bishop that sins he fails to correct become his own.
341. 1.411Wealth justly gained is held unjustly unless shared; given away, it becomes truly one's own.
342. 1.412Words, named after the divine Word, should guide character, not serve quarrels and lawsuits.
343. 1.413Paul's "let those with wives be as though they had none" does not forbid lawful marriage, as the Manichees claim, but restrains indulgence because time is short.
344. 1.414"You shall eat the fruit of your labors" applies to all: the virtuous receive crowns, the wicked the wages of their deeds.
345. 1.415The four mysteries of Prov 30:18–19 are read as the Son's divinity, Christ's sinlessness, his passage through death, and the resurrection.
346. 1.417The adulteress who washes and claims innocence figures the church cleansed by baptism; a second letter explains Joel's "let the gentle be a fighter" as zeal against those who attack God.
347. 1.418A bishop is warned against Egypt's "reed staff" that now demands assent to heresies, and urged to hold that the incarnate Son is unchanged, unmixed and undivided.
348. 1.420A rich man grieved by rebuke is like the rich young man; he should avoid the fate of the rich man who ignored Lazarus.
349. 1.421Warnings are given so that we may heed them and escape what is threatened.
350. 1.422"The Father is greater" implies sameness of essence, since only things of one kind can be compared.
351. 1.423Gluttony leads to frenzy, like runaway horses dragging one to ruin.
352. 1.424A monk should keep a balance between excessive fasting and overeating.
353. 1.425The bishop Eusebius is rebuked for putting two violent men in charge of the poor, whether for a bribe or for nothing.
354. 1.426The woman's seed in Gen 3:15 is Christ, born of a virgin.
355. 1.427The monk's sheepskin signifies a mortified flesh; worn by one still living for the passions it is a stage costume.
356. 1.428God's power is made perfect in weakness, as the unlettered apostles and Christ's servant form show.
357. 1.429God made worldly wisdom foolish when Christ, the Wisdom of God, sent unlettered men to preach to the whole world.
358. 1.430Isidore rebukes local men who serve the schemes of a Cappadocian governor whose rule will soon pass.
359. 1.431Enosh, Enoch and Melchizedek show that knowledge of God is natural, and Melchizedek's bread and wine foreshadowed the eucharist.
360. 1.432As farmers weed their fields, one must root out vices to work for the food that lasts.
361. 1.433The thought of hell's fire quenches the heat of lust.
362. 1.434Love of money, a form of idolatry, is overcome by Christ's answer to the tempter.
363. 1.435Sinlessness belongs to God alone; from monks and priests one may expect freedom from deliberate sin, few involuntary faults, and quick repentance.
364. 1.436Christ's incarnation should move both men and demons to respect human nature; the unmoved Zosimus will face judgment.
365. 1.437A physician is reminded, with Democritus, that wisdom heals the soul as medicine heals the body.
366. 1.438The doves offered for infants signify the simplicity and gentleness proper to the young.
367. 1.439God's "regret" over Saul expresses pity for Israel and Saul, not a failure of foreknowledge.
368. 1.440Learners of divine things should follow their teachers with childlike simplicity.
369. 1.441Perfection comes by stages, starting with milk; a second letter explains being infants in malice but mature in mind.
370. 1.443Paul's "when I was a child" refers to his life under the law, which he outgrew in Christ.
371. 1.444The law held only a shadow of the good things to come; the reality was given in the Gospel.
372. 1.445Paul's "milk" is the use of the law to lead converts by degrees to the perfect doctrines, such as the Trinity.
373. 1.446Fasting from food while indulging in abuse is hypocrisy; a second letter shows that the Philip who baptized the eunuch was the deacon, not the apostle.
374. 1.448Acts 8:1 shows the apostles stayed in Jerusalem, so the Philip who preached in Samaria was the deacon.
375. 1.449Further evidence from Acts that the evangelist Philip, scattered after Stephen's death, was not the apostle.
376. 1.450Philip baptized but did not give the Spirit, which Peter and John supplied; so he was not an apostle.
377. 1.451A bishop is urged to resist a present storm firmly rather than yield to its deceptive mildness.
378. 1.452Hezekiah's prayer for peace was not weakness; by prayer he won victory through an angel.
379. 1.453The wrestler withheld his name from Jacob because it was to be revealed in the incarnation as Jesus, Savior.
380. 1.454One must not accuse a father even truly, as Ham's fate shows; two further letters say Christians should not own costly things, and explain the revelry Paul forbids.
381. 1.457The instruments of Psalm 150 are read as the resurrection trumpet and the members of the body and soul praising God.
382. 1.458The Gospel does not contradict the law but goes to the root, forbidding the desire that leads to the deed.
383. 1.459Sirach's blessing on one who has not slipped with his tongue is explained as avoiding shameful or wounding speech.
384. 1.460Against an Epicurean, Isidore sets Christ's promise of judgment against Epicurus's denial of providence.
385. 1.461A dedicated woman who has taken to jewels and cosmetics is reminded of her vow; a second letter encourages an officer sent into a dangerous court posting.
386. 1.463A young man who shaves his beard to look womanish is rebuked for faulting his Maker.
387. 1.464Fornication with prostitutes often turns out to be adultery, or even unwitting incest with one's own illegitimate kin.
388. 1.465A glutton is warned that God will walk contrary to him; a second letter says wealth spent on the poor, like a spring or a nursing breast, is not diminished.
389. 1.467Scripture records punishments so that fear may keep us from the same sins.
390. 1.468Ascetic practice without gentleness and moderation does not lead to salvation.
391. 1.469The "good things of the land" are earthly goods named after heavenly ones, to lead us from the visible to the spiritual.
392. 1.470Three letters: manual work is honorable, as the king Pittacus shows; slaves must be treated as equals in nature, faith and judgment; and those who sin after grace are less excusable than those before the law.
393. 1.473"Glory as of the Only-begotten" does not imply inferiority; "as" confirms, as in "how good is God".
394. 1.474Fasting with pride is worse than eating meat.
395. 1.475Isidore asks a deacon to give a tunic to a poor traveler, as the Baptist commanded; a second letter says "how?" has no place where God's will is concerned.
396. 1.477"Flesh" means either human nature or the fleshly mind, and only the latter excludes from God's kingdom; a second letter shows Christ's descent from David and his ascension with the flesh.
397. 1.479Anger, like wine, intoxicates the mind; both must be avoided.
398. 1.480One who resents being told others' opinion of him should amend his conduct, and the reproaches will cease.
399. 1.481Isidore will send no more books to one who has not profited from the last.
400. 1.482A man who leads an armed band and compares himself to David is told that David protected his neighbors, while he preys on them.
401. 1.483Isidore hopes that the Cappadocian Gigantius, seeking office again, will be sent to govern his own people.
402. 1.484A powerful friend is asked to stop the Cappadocian Gigantius from regaining office and to send him home.
403. 1.485Isidore suggests sarcastically that Cappadocians be barred from office, or at least allowed to govern only their own country.
404. 1.486An official is urged not to give Gigantius office again.
405. 1.487Gigantius, who ruined the farmers with slander and a harsh census, is seeking office again and must be stopped.
406. 1.488As farmers labor in hope of fruit, so teachers expect fruit from their pupils.
407. 1.489Isidore asks the praetorian prefect to bar Cappadocians from governing anywhere but their own country.
408. 1.490Isidore recounts Gigantius's crimes and punishments and asks a cleric to prevent his return to office.
409. 1.491The trilingual title on the cross showed that the passion was for all peoples.
410. 1.492A bishop who robs the poor and does not give is warned of merciless judgment.
411. 1.493A proud governor is reminded that he is dust and his office brief.
412. 1.494The fire at Pentecost, like the fire at Sinai, shows one God in both Testaments; a second letter says wine in moderation gladdens, but excess is dissipation.
413. 1.495A zealot who expels the orthodox while teaching a confusion of the Word with flesh imitates not Christ cleansing the temple but the captain of the temple who persecuted the apostles.
414. 1.497Christ is the cornerstone who joins the two peoples, Jews and Gentiles, into one body.
415. 1.498A monk who builds lavishly is told to imitate Elisha's simple upper room rather than Pharaoh's building projects.
416. 1.499Since Christ sent the Spirit at Pentecost as promised, Montanus's claim of a greater coming of the Spirit is vain.
417. 1.500The Spirit came at Pentecost as Christ promised; Montanus's denial makes Christ a liar and leaves the apostles' miracles unexplained.
418. 2.1Isa 40:2 means that priests should teach above all by their lives, not by words alone.
419. 2.2Grace has not removed the natural seeds of virtue; people must use them, as sailors must use a good wind.
420. 2.3Scripture is Wisdom's mixed bowl: divine teaching mixed with ordinary words and examples so that people can grasp it; outside learning is to be used like a bee gathering only what is useful.
421. 2.4The "treasure in earthen vessels" is either God's gifts in a mortal body or divine wisdom in Scripture's plain words; either way the weakness of the vessel shows God's power.
422. 2.5The apostles' miracles and authority show the treasure God placed in weak bodies, and Scripture's plain words hold depths that defeat the wisest.
423. 2.6Christian patience goes beyond philosophers' endurance: it offers the other cheek.
424. 2.7Chastity's beauty compels love; Paul defines virginity by freedom from worldly cares as well as bodily purity.
425. 2.9Virtue must be practised, not merely seemed; a group of dissolute ascetics is urged to repent; the heading of a letter to a new bishop follows.
426. 2.10A new bishop must govern himself before others; vice's pleasure is deadly, virtue's toil glorious.
427. 2.13The virtuous shine among others like lights in darkness; Eutonius should keep his virtue.
428. 2.14Lovers of virtue are remembered after death; Isidore would say more about future glory if Hierius shared his faith.
429. 2.15A governor should temper power with mercy, imitating God rather than beasts.
430. 2.16A dissolute cleric is urged to repent despite those who think him beyond cure; hope in God is an unbreakable tower; a request on behalf of Hesychius.
431. 2.19Needing little, and caring chiefly for the soul, leads to blessedness here and to the kingdom.
432. 2.20Maron is told to stop meddling and slandering before he loses all sense of virtue.
433. 2.21Isidore defends himself against a bishop's complaint that he has not corrected Bishop Eusebius, quoting his reproaches of Eusebius for selling ordinations and robbing the poor.
434. 2.22Maron must choose between living as an Epicurean and calling himself a Christian.
435. 2.23Perfect freedom (needing nothing) belongs to God; human freedom is to need little.
436. 2.24Tribulation belongs to this life, the arena of contest; the crowns come in the next.
437. 2.25Isidore joins the city's petition to a governor on behalf of a detained man.
438. 2.26Disciples should both love and fear their teachers; whoever desires salvation must do everything that leads to it.
439. 2.28Three notorious clerics are told that pride in their sins is worse than the Pharisee's pride in his virtues, and to stop attacking the earnest.
440. 2.29Since death and loss of wealth come anyway, the wise accept them for God's sake and so gain a reward.
441. 2.30Love of the kingdom requires contempt for money and human reward.
442. 2.31Isidore longs for the bishop's visit and asks him to come quickly.
443. 2.32A bishop's great charge demands great vigilance, since failure brings judgment as great as the reward.
444. 2.33Isidore praises Ischyrion for deferring to his father's and superior's judgment.
445. 2.34Dionysius, who has forgotten virtue since leaving, is reminded of it by letter.
446. 2.35A slanderer should be restrained; swords into ploughs means the gospel taming warlike nations; baptism by an unworthy priest does not harm the baptized, as Balaam, Caiaphas and Elijah's raven show.
447. 2.38Zosimus, a dissolute presbyter, is rebuked for slandering virtuous priests and making people doubt the sacraments he gave.
448. 2.39A priest should not merely be blameless but praiseworthy.
449. 2.40The belly's tyranny is curbed by giving it what it needs and no more.
450. 2.41Zosimus' delayed punishment will be heavier unless he repents; John's eloquence, admired by Libanius, excels in the clarity that Plutarch called true Atticism.
451. 2.43The resurrection of the body is defended to pagans from the philosophers' doctrine that the elements change into one another, from the example of gold refined from earth, and from God's creative power.
452. 2.44Zosimus should give his money as alms since he cannot take it with him; ascetics should fast in measure lest they swing to excess.
453. 2.46Against a pagan who objects that the Gospel is new: only newness can end an evil custom; Esau's birthright, and the priesthood of Levi and the kingship of Judah, were given for virtue, not birth order.
454. 2.49Joseph's rise was earned by virtue shown at every stage of his life; the seed of goodness will shine out in this life or the next.
455. 2.50Bishop Eusebius combines every fault of bad clergy and persecutes the virtuous whose lives rebuke his own.
456. 2.51A virtuous character wins true friends.
457. 2.52The priesthood, through which come rebirth and the mysteries, must not be blamed for the sins of unworthy priests like Eusebius and Zosimus.
458. 2.53Truly chaste women tend the body moderately without adornment; the story of a virgin who disfigured herself to cure a young man's passion.
459. 2.54Suffering for piety, like the apostles' sufferings for Christ, carries its own honour.
460. 2.55Mercy must be shown even to defeated enemies who beg for it.
461. 2.56Paul knew only in part because human capacity is limited until the age to come; the body needs sufficiency, not luxury.
462. 2.58Paul's wish to be accursed for Israel (Rom 9:3) was real self-sacrificing love, greater than Moses' and like Rebekah's acceptance of a curse for Jacob, not a wish to become a votive offering.
463. 2.59Zosimus is urged to recover from his vice before it overcomes him.
464. 2.60Two clerics ordained as accomplices of their bishop's greed are told to stop; saved through baptism, we must still do our part.
465. 2.62No one should trust his own chastity enough to look continually at women; Paul's discipline and pagan examples (a king at Ephesus, Cyrus and Panthea) show the wisdom of Christ's warning.
466. 2.63God wove prophecies into the Old Testament so that they served their own time and pointed to Christ; interpreters must not force every detail onto Christ.
467. 2.64Those whose lives contradict their orthodox doctrine deny God by their works.
468. 2.65Zosimus' scandalous life makes people doubt the sacraments he administers and endangers souls Christ redeemed.
469. 2.66Etham in Ps 74:15 was a well-watered place near Jerusalem, known from Josephus, which God dried up; retaliation torments the avenger, while bearing wrongs brings peace.
470. 2.68Timothy is urged to virtue; rulers err either by harsh laws they do not keep or by lax kindness; God's gifts match the preparation of the recipient, as with Moses.
471. 2.71Bishop Eusebius' excuse for selling ordinations is answered; Jer 13:23 speaks of learned evil, not nature, so sinners can change with grace, as David, Paul, Peter and the thief show.
472. 2.73Reading Scripture provides examples that nourish virtue.
473. 2.74Sickness after success, as with Hezekiah, restrains pride; a sick bishop should accept his illness as a source of crowns or of humility.
474. 2.75The aged Zosimus, who shelters licentious young men, is told to keep away from the altar.
475. 2.76"That you may not enter into temptation" means not being overcome by it, since no one can avoid it in this life.
476. 2.77Ahab's death shows that a foretold doom cannot be escaped.
477. 2.78A nobleman is praised for helping orphans unknown to him; a bishop is urged not to give up on the dissolute presbyter Zosimus, since souls, unlike bodies, can change by choice.
478. 2.80Zosimus, now corrupting others, must rein in his desires, or he will suffer the punishment the Ninevites escaped.
479. 2.81The literal reason the law excluded lepers and others with involuntary diseases: such diseases were thought to come from intercourse during menstruation, and the exclusion of the children punished the parents; similarly with the uncircumcised infant.
480. 2.82A true man is not captivated by effeminate stage dancers.
481. 2.83Two quarrelling deacons are urged to end their feud, or at least to stop feeding it with words.
482. 2.84A bishop is warned not to drive his enemies to desperation, lest they turn on him.
483. 2.85The "prince of Persia" who resisted the angel in Daniel 10 was the angel of the Persians, arguing from justice that the unrepentant Jews should stay in exile, while grace prevailed.
484. 2.86God judges the same sin differently according to intention, rank, circumstances, repentance and the time of revelation.
485. 2.87Pistus should be, and be seen to be, both pious and just.
486. 2.88Christ defended the woman who poured out the ointment not to set aside almsgiving but by condescension to her faith, as wise priests accept gifts already made to churches while preferring alms.
487. 2.89Virtue keeps the mind steady in every fortune and is more truly the beauty Homer praised; the devil multiplied heresies after Christ's coming, so heretics, their followers, and the orthodox who live badly must all change.
488. 2.91The Areopagus ("hill of Ares") was named after Ares' trial there.
489. 2.92The shameful myth of Ares' trial on the Areopagus refutes pagan religion; curiosity about what God has hidden is dangerous, while faith and right living give safety.
490. 2.94Despair is worse than carelessness, and Isidore has not neglected Zosimus; Daniel was honoured the night Belshazzar died; a difficulty is solved from what is agreed; virtue must be pursued; John 21:25 is restrained hyperbole like that of the Old Testament, or refers to works beyond the world's capacity.
491. 2.100One who cannot explain how fire lies hidden in wood should not pry into what is above him; astronomy and cosmology contribute nothing to virtue.
492. 2.101Hermogenes judges impartially, while at Pelusium money decides cases; Isidore asks him to pray for change.
493. 2.102Friendship should be mixed with the fear of God to keep it free of suspicion.
494. 2.103Grace makes the contest easier, not unnecessary; victory should not lead to boasting.
495. 2.104Early success breeds overreaching, so one should keep a human measure in success and failure; the meanings of Scripture are won only by toil and prayer.
496. 2.107The mind must guard the senses beforehand, which is why Christ forbade the lustful look and not only the act.
497. 2.108Zosimus is said to combine every vice; he should repent in this life while repentance can still help.
498. 2.109Wine affects people differently because it reveals their hidden character rather than creating it.
499. 2.110People excuse their own great sins and judge others' small ones; the cure is to accuse oneself.
500. 2.111Zeno should be like the deep-rooted seed of the parable; the teacher is the eye of the Church, and a dark teacher darkens the whole body.
501. 2.113Zosimus, blinded by greed, cannot believe that true poverty exists; he should begin by living from honest work.
502. 2.114Hating the virtuous without cause is war on virtue itself; Eustathius must stop or be expelled.
503. 2.115Circumcision does not correct a defect in God's work; it was a sign and a seal of virtue (as the righteous before Abraham show), and it gives no ground for pride.
504. 2.116God tied the memory of his benefits to feasts so that they would be kept with thanksgiving, not drunkenness.
505. 2.117God's omnipotence does not include evil or absurdities: he can do all things that befit him; one who repays forbearance with insult is to blame; egg-laying and brooding show the Creator's seminal principles in nature.
506. 2.120A governor should listen to the poor and shut out slanderers; Bishop Eusebius, who sold ordinations, is more to blame than the bad clergy he ordained, whose sins are graver than a layman's; the matter is left to God's judgment.
507. 2.123Sinning in the hope of pardon is dangerous; the heading of a letter to four clerics follows.
508. 2.124Clerics who neglect the souls in their care are worse than unbelievers; wise men flee the episcopate as it is now exercised; one must fear to scandalize anyone.
509. 2.125Isidore reports to Cyril of Alexandria how the presbyter Martinian, a runaway slave, became steward of the church of Pelusium under Bishop Eusebius, plundered it, made the church his debtor in the accounts, and now seeks a bishopric at Alexandria; he asks Cyril to depose him and audit the accounts. A short letter against flatterers follows.
510. 2.129Christ did not force Judas, since salvation comes by persuasion and free choice; a merciful soul is the spring of all good deeds.
511. 2.131Vice separates people from God and each other; virtue unites them.
512. 2.132Eutonius should bear Zosimus' abuse by remembering what Christ suffered.
513. 2.133"Eye for eye" was a deterrent, not a command to be vindictive as the Manichaeans claim; turning the other cheek is a higher stage of the same law, given by the one God of both Testaments.
514. 2.134One should pray for what is fitting, as Moses and Paul learned when their requests were refused.
515. 2.135The beastly man of Ps 49 is worse than any beast, and Scripture is the mirror that can transform him; a governor should steer by piety; the prosperity of the wicked belongs to God's judgment; Paul became "as a Jew" and "as without law" by condescension, while keeping both the old law and Christ's higher law.
516. 2.139Christians' quarrels have destroyed love and strengthened the defeated devil; Ps 30:9 can be read as Christ's lament that his blood profits those who betray his victory by carelessness.
517. 2.140Maron mocks Zosimus while imitating his vices; clergy who contradict their preaching make the gospel seem a fable.
518. 2.142The Godhead is one substance in three hypostases; the Old Testament already hints at the Trinity, as even Philo recognized in his "second God" and two powers and his account of the image in the burning bush; the doctrine was veiled at first so that Israel would not fall into polytheism.
519. 2.144The hundredfold, sixtyfold and thirtyfold yield can mean virginity, continence and marriage, or teaching, bodily service and almsgiving.
520. 2.145A fault is healed by repentance, not by denial.
521. 2.146Against a pagan who defends love of money with Demosthenes' saying that money is needed for everything, Isidore cites Isocrates and the ancients who scorned wealth (Aristides, Epaminondas, Crates, Phocion, Plato, Lycurgus), describes the evils of avarice down to the robbing of graves, and explains that Demosthenes meant the needs of war.
522. 2.147The virtuous live truly even here, above fear and change, while sinners die of fear before death; a good life makes one believed, and love makes one loved.
523. 2.149Casius' praise of Isidore's letter against avarice should lead him to practise what it says.
524. 2.150The phylacteries were tablets of the law worn for show; a funeral eulogy of the virtuous Timothy, notable for secret almsgiving; wounds of the soul need thorough treatment; the heading of a letter to four clerics follows.
525. 2.151Reporting how virtuous men speak of the four clerics' open vices, Isidore lays out a chain of steps from acknowledging their fault to looking continually to God.
526. 2.154Clarity with dignity makes speech clear; Timothy the reader was both admired and loved; a man who built a splendid house while neglecting his soul is warned; the heading of a letter to four clerics follows.
527. 2.155Since Christ's prophecies (the fall of Jerusalem and the temple, the spread of the gospel, the survival of the Church, the anointing at Bethany, his death and resurrection) have all come true, his prophecy of the judgment must be believed.
528. 2.158Jas 3:6 does not say the tongue is moved by fate, but that the tongue, by free choice, stains the "wheel" of life, that is, time.
529. 2.159Isidore rejoices that Orion has become a monk.
530. 2.160God's patience is no licence for sin; he will repay each according to his works.
531. 2.161Like athletes who strip, crop their hair and oil themselves, Christians must strip off the old man and give away their goods to contend for virtue.
532. 2.162Athanasius is right to be indignant at Zosimus' ordination, but should not defile his own tongue by mocking him.
533. 2.163Best not to answer an opponent's provocation; if one must, one should answer with restraint.
534. 2.164The devil, defeated by Christ, prevails only through Christians' carelessness and their quarrels with one another; vigilance and prayer are needed.
535. 2.165Life is a fleeting shadow, and its pleasures are scarcely felt; one should not cling to luxury.
536. 2.166Christ rebuked the mourning women because he suffered willingly; the sufferer's intention, not the suffering, decides whether lament is fitting.
537. 2.167Stories of the virtuous rouse our natural impulses to virtue.
538. 2.168A comic poet's praise of poverty is cited; in Christ's contest, unlike the Olympic games, the one who is struck is crowned.
539. 2.170Eustathius should confirm his good reputation by his future conduct.
540. 2.171Four dissolute clerics are warned in veiled terms that their sins against nature will bring punishment worse than Sodom's; the cup of Ps 75:8 is the cup of judgment, not the eucharistic cup; Christ wept over Lazarus because he was recalling a righteous man from rest to the struggles of life.
541. 2.174Virtue is admired even by its enemies, yet pleasure leads many astray; "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" means joining prudence and simplicity, since biblical images apply only in one respect, as with the lion and with Paul's potter and clay.
542. 2.176God tolerated instrumental music, as he did sacrifices, because of human weakness; the "Eir" (watcher) of Daniel 4 is the herald-angel who proclaims the sentence on Nebuchadnezzar, like an officer at a royal tribunal.
543. 2.178Hermogenes need not fear the clerics he admonished; God is on his side.
544. 2.179The righteous (Job, Paul, David) spoke of their innocence only to answer those who judged them by their sufferings; suffering is the contest, reward comes later, though God also gives some rewards and punishments now.
545. 2.180Christians win arguments but are judged by their lives; Didymus is warned that deliberate offence against friends would end Isidore's affection.
546. 2.181Didymus must either admit the reported charges or show them false so his accusers can be called to account.
547. 2.183Teaching by deeds, not words alone, persuades.
548. 2.184Virtue is its own reward; asking always about the reward suggests a hireling's spirit.
549. 2.185Zosimus' question what to do has a simple answer: stop doing what he is doing.
550. 2.186God cannot be seen or comprehended, but can be conceived by a pure mind and dwells in the virtuous soul.
551. 2.187Even a deadly wound of the soul is healed by calling on God's help.
552. 2.188Divine law forms virtue from childhood, while human law punishes only after corruption; people fear human punishment more because it is immediate, though God's judgment is certain.
553. 2.189Paul's command to settle anger before sunset prevents the devil from turning a quarrel into lasting enmity.
554. 2.190Isaiah should not let prosperity lead him into sins against nature.
555. 2.191Pride brings a great fall; the "mystery of piety" is the incarnation, beyond understanding: virgin birth, union of incorruptible and corruptible, salvation through suffering and death.
556. 2.193Six short letters: unjust suspicion grieves the virtuous; ingratitude; not every Old Testament text should be forced onto Christ, though some speak of him plainly; Scripture's "testament" means an inviolable promise; carelessness makes us forget judgment; the mustard seed is the gospel overcoming Greek wisdom.
557. 2.199Bishop Eusebius excludes the worthy from the priesthood and ordains the unworthy; God will judge him.
558. 2.200The priest, who governs souls, outranks the emperor; a priest who cares for buildings and money disgraces himself, not his office.
559. 2.201True wisdom is first practical virtue; learning and contemplation crown it but cannot replace it, as the choice of the apostles shows.
560. 2.202One should aim at virtue that is rewarded, not merely at pardon.
561. 2.203Isaiah will find pardon if he repents; even Plato taught that the immortal soul cannot escape judgment.
562. 2.204Flatterers are preferred to honest advisers because they please desire.
563. 2.205Zosimus, licentious in youth and age alike, should keep away from the altar.
564. 2.206Good deeds should be praised even if words fall short, as a witness to later generations.
565. 2.207A just judge is not overawed by rank and keeps equality for all in his verdicts.
566. 2.208Priests must teach by toil and example, not by words alone; Ezekiel's command to begin judgment with the sanctuary means that those of higher rank are punished more.
567. 2.209An unworthy bishop corrupts his clergy and people, as at Pelusium under Eusebius.
568. 2.210Isidore asks Hermogenes not to praise him excessively, lest unearned praise bring him greater judgment.
569. 2.211Holy teaching should not be given to scoffers.
570. 2.212Christ's rising before three full days elapsed fulfilled his word, since a day is counted when it is touched (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and an earlier rising only shows his power; "claiming to be wise" refers to the pomp of pagan wisdom.
571. 2.214Alms must be given gently and secretly, without insult; if one has nothing to give, a kind word is better than a gift.
572. 2.215Seduction is worse than rape, since it corrupts the woman's mind as well as her body, while a woman who is forced and resists remains innocent, as the law of Deut 22 shows.
573. 2.216Rom 13:1 means that the institution of authority comes from God, not that every ruler is appointed by him; wicked rulers are permitted, either to be punished like Pharaoh or to chastise like Nebuchadnezzar.
574. 2.217Divine justice watches over human affairs, so wrongdoing should be avoided.
575. 2.218Whatever is good in Isidore's letters comes from God's grace.
576. 2.219A new governor should forgive old wrongs now that he has the power to avenge them.
577. 2.220Praising the virtuous shows love of virtue and freedom from envy, and shames or corrects the wicked.
578. 2.221Lampetius should leave Bishop Eusebius' extortion to God's judgment.
579. 2.222God's patience calls to repentance, but those who abuse it will be judged, as Isa 42:14 warns.
580. 2.223Punishment before all heaven and humanity at the judgment will be the heaviest.
581. 2.224Envy attacks virtue above all; one should bear being envied with calm.
582. 2.225Those who refer their virtue to God's help, not their own strength, will overcome the passions.
583. 2.226A short letter too garbled in the scan to be understood.
584. 2.227Rejoicing in the rewards of virtue shows readiness for virtue.
585. 2.228Homer himself mocks divination in the failed advice of Helenus, and poetry's love of fable appears in the giants' attempt to pile mountains up to heaven.
586. 2.229Departing from truth at the start leads to a shameful end.
587. 2.230The clerics are said to live out Epicurus' doctrines more than his own disciple did; they must stop their lust.
588. 2.231Theodosius' virtues are beyond words; true humility belongs to one who has achieved much.
589. 2.232Love of money, unlike bodily love, cannot be painted: it is a fire-breathing, many-handed, insatiable monster that torments its captives and robs even the dead; the only escape is to stop seeking gain and give to the needy.
590. 2.234Bishops who rule like tyrants, enslave those Christ redeemed and banish the outspoken have deadened their people's virtue.
591. 2.235A bishop needs both a good life and eloquence, the one against fault-finders, the other against heresy.
592. 2.236Potiphar's wife assailed all Joseph's senses, but he won the costly victory of chastity; her keeping his garment betrayed her, and Potiphar's mild sentence suggests he suspected the truth, while God guided the outcome.
593. 2.237Corrupt clergy banish frank critics so that they may sin unchecked.
594. 2.238A sinner must first be made aware of his sickness before he will seek healing.
595. 2.239"Be angry and do not sin" admits several meanings, including a command to be angry for God's glory and the wronged; virtue is easier and more pleasant than vice, since avarice, luxury and lust bring endless troubles.
596. 2.241Christian greatness of mind joins modesty and magnanimity, avoiding both servility and arrogance.
597. 2.242The war against the passions is won by effort joined with trust in God's help.
598. 2.243The law punished sinful deeds; the Gospel forbids sinful thoughts so that sin may not begin.
599. 2.244Those hardened in sin, like Zosimus, no longer perceive their own evil.
600. 2.245Isidore honours Eustathius by declaring his virtues beyond praise.
601. 2.246The Church is the assembly of the saints, not the building; Bishop Eusebius adorns the church house with marble while destroying the true Church, unlike the apostolic age, which had gifts but no buildings.
602. 2.247When great deeds exceed a speaker's powers, the hearers should excuse him.
603. 2.248Isidore refuses to take sides in a quarrel between two councillors, but offers to reconcile them.
604. 2.249God's commands are to be obeyed without argument, since he knows what is good for us.
605. 2.250Zeno's true kinship with Bishop Hermogenes is in character, as his disciple, not by blood.
606. 2.251The apostles converted the world because their lives matched their word; Christ taught them by deeds before sending them out.
607. 2.252The four clerics, hardened against admonition, now deserve lament rather than advice.
608. 2.253Isidore refuses to explain sacred matters to the dissolute clerics until they turn to virtue.
609. 2.254Deliberate distortion of Scripture is beyond pardon, since it springs from malice, not error.
610. 2.255Sophists hide present failures behind past fame.
611. 2.256Olympiodorus admires Plato but ignores his teaching that virtue comes by toil.
612. 2.257The greedy who do not see their sin are to be pitied; like children, they fear harmless poverty and embrace wealth, which is more dangerous than fire.
613. 2.258Eutonius should not be downcast by others' opinion of his misfortunes; crowns match the contests.
614. 2.259Christian ethics keeps gratitude to benefactors but replaces retaliation with forbearance and kindness to enemies.
615. 2.260A bishop, like a good king, uses persuasion with the willing and the discipline of the canons with the disobedient.
616. 2.261God's patience calls to repentance, but those who despise it face punishment here or hereafter.
617. 2.262Hermogenes' friends need no exhortation; they strive for virtue to the end.
618. 2.263Joseph, falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, was imprisoned but raised by God; only sin, not slander, is truly to be feared.
619. 2.264Only one who has first learned obedience under the canons is fit to become a bishop, as a good soldier becomes a good general.
620. 2.265Satiety never comes to the greedy, only to the frugal.
621. 2.266When a man gives all his effort to virtue, God, who urges even the unwilling, completes it.
622. 2.267Joy in victories over the passions makes their toil unnoticed.
623. 2.268Orion surpassed all his fellows in humility; the title of the next letter follows.
624. 2.269The law's command not to favour the poor in judgment applies when poverty turns from entreaty to litigious accusation.
625. 2.270In Isa 6:9-10 the change of persons and the sense of μήποτε ("perhaps") show that God sent the prophet in hope of repentance, not to prevent it.
626. 2.271Exod 23:3 keeps the poor from litigiousness and warns judges all the more against favouring the rich.
627. 2.272Christ's answer in John 9 rejects both the Greek view that souls are punished in bodies for prior sin and the view that children are punished for parents' sins.
628. 2.273Cosmological speculation does nothing for salvation; the virtues lead to blessedness.
629. 2.274Abraham's and Jacob's plural marriages arose from circumstance (Sarah's and Rachel's urging, Laban's deceit), not passion, as Isaac's single marriage confirms; they give no excuse to lustful men who put away their wives, since those living under law and grace are held to more.
630. 2.275A good life without eloquence helps more than eloquence without a good life; both together are best.
631. 2.276Eusebius and his clerics will be judged; if the poor are not favoured in judgment, judges who favour the rich deserve worse.
632. 2.278A sudden glance that wounds can be healed by fasting and custody of the eyes; deliberate gazing is adultery in the heart.
633. 2.279Justice catches the guilty even here; Socrates' "we shall know there" concerned his own philosophy, not doubt of the judgment, like Paul's 1 Cor 4:4.
634. 2.280Temptations are overcome by endurance and moderation, with God's help providing the way out.
635. 2.281The Lord's Prayer asks only for heavenly things; its "daily" (epiousios) bread is above all the Word who nourishes the soul, or else bread asked for with philosophical contentment.
636. 2.282Slander despite a clear conscience need not trouble us; one should yield a little to dangerous men when virtue is not harmed.
637. 2.284A bishop must avoid frequent meetings with women, which weaken him like a shorn lion; even a drop of water wears through rock by persistence.
638. 2.285Christ rebuked the women mourning him on the way to the cross because his suffering was willing and victorious; he foretold the evils coming on them.
639. 2.286All honours fade with time; only virtue has undying glory.
640. 2.287Death, the fire that feeds on sin, found no sin in Christ and so was quenched.
641. 2.288The law restrains the disorderly by fear; the Gospel draws lovers of virtue by promises.
642. 2.289Guilt depends on intention: one who adorns herself or himself to ensnare is guilty even if no one falls, while one who is modest bears no blame for another's lust, as Sarah, Joseph and Susanna show.
643. 2.290Priests should be rich in virtue, self-controlled, and ready to die for piety.
644. 2.291Bought rank confers no nobility; true nobility comes from virtue.
645. 2.292Isaiah, of humble birth, must rein in his arrogance and show modesty in every bearing.
646. 2.293"Learn to do good" rebukes those who speak well but act badly.
647. 2.294Nebuchadnezzar's restoration once he acknowledged God shows that God's punishments aim at our good.
648. 2.295Isidore writes reluctantly to call the four clerics back from unspeakable vices; the letter breaks off.
649. 2.296The best answer to Zosimus' insults is calm forbearance, which shows them false.
650. 2.297Eustathius should not take later revenge on Zosimus by slandering him, but stay calm; Zosimus is warned to repent before he faces the fire.
651. 2.299Scripture gives all people a firm faith in God as maker, provider and judge; his essence cannot and need not be searched out.
652. 2.300Virtue must be tended daily, or past labours are lost (2 John 8).
653. 3.1Isidore urges Zosimus to stop his scandalous conduct, if not for fear of judgment, then at least to escape present ridicule.
654. 3.3Luke 9:50: in war even one who stands among the enemy but does not shoot at us is in a sense a friend.
655. 3.4Isidore explains Dan 8:10: the "stars" are the Maccabees and martyrs, bright in piety, by whom Antiochus Epiphanes fell, or whom he struck.
656. 3.5Matt 16:18 means the church will be attacked but never defeated; and (Letter 3.6) when God speaks, human reasoning must give way.
657. 3.7A sensible person accepts reconciliation quickly after an insult, flees an incorrigible insulter, and never seeks praise from another's sin.
658. 3.8Let the grieving tell their troubles before offering comfort; and (Letter 3.9) judges must look past eloquence to the truth.
659. 3.10The breastpiece (logion) on the high priest's breast signifies reason ruling the passions and the truth and clarity proper to a priest.
660. 3.11Matt 5:28 condemns not a passing glance but deliberate, continual gazing with desire; the safe course is not to look.
661. 3.12Matt 5:28 applies to women as well as men, since God's laws are common to both sexes except where nature differs.
662. 3.13The law gives separate rules to men and women only where their natures differ; the moral commandments, beatitudes and the call to celibacy apply to both.
663. 3.14The law's purifications for involuntary impurity warn that voluntary sins deserve worse unless healed by repentance.
664. 3.15The higher a cleric's rank, the graver his sin; the law required of the high priest the same sacrifice as of the whole people.
665. 3.16God measures piety by each person's means, so the poor can offer what he most seeks: virtue.
666. 3.17Isidore deplores Bishop Eusebius's ordaining the rich for profit and rejecting the poor, while noting that a few clergy still keep the apostolic standard.
667. 3.18Against the Arians, Isidore argues that the Son is eternal, and that the titles Radiance, Imprint, Word and Son each show something of his divinity.
668. 3.19Against a Jew who reads the law only literally, Isidore cites Philo and Josephus as Jewish witnesses to its allegorical meaning.
669. 3.20The priesthood mediates between God and humanity, and no one should think himself above it.
670. 3.21The saints' great dangers for virtue win them greater glory.
671. 3.22As Jerusalem stood while God was her ally and fell when she lost him, so the soul stands by grace and falls by sin.
672. 3.23As Xerxes could not enslave the Athenians, a sophist will not persuade Isidore to flattery.
673. 3.24Love of money must be repelled at its first onset, before it becomes unconquerable.
674. 3.25Following Paul, clergy should seek the church's edification rather than their own glory.
675. 3.26Against astrological fate: the wicked suffer justly and the innocent are tested for crowns, which only belief in Providence can explain.
676. 3.27Scripture's plural expressions show three hypostases and its singular ones one nature, against both Sabellians and Arians.
677. 3.28Like Daniel, who first told Nebuchadnezzar his dream and then its meaning, one should judge the doubtful from the certain.
678. 3.29Bishop Eusebius honours wicked clergy because like favours like.
679. 3.30True victory is overcoming the strong, not boasting over a few weak opponents.
680. 3.31Isidore reads "firstborn of all creation" (Col 1:15) as "first-bearer", the Creator, and argues from Col 1:16–17 that the Son is not a creature.
681. 3.32Isidore warns a proud soldier that human power is unstable and pride invites a fall.
682. 3.33In Zech 5:7–8 the lead signifies the weight of sin and the measure the limit of God's patience.
683. 3.34Christ's command in Matt 6:1 prunes love of human glory but keeps and redirects the natural desire for honour toward God.
684. 3.35Isidore will keep trying to bring the wayward clergy Chaeremon, Zosimus and Maron to repentance.
685. 3.36Isidore warns the wayward clergy that vice is its own punishment; (Letter 3.37) urges stressing the judgment that pagans and Christians agree on rather than disputes; and (Letter 3.38) notes that common disasters leave no room for pity.
686. 3.39A sinner should not dispute about doctrine until he has repented, lest his life discredit the truth.
687. 3.40Isidore urges an eloquent scholar to imitate his brother's virtue, which matters more than eloquence.
688. 3.41Learning should be joined with gentleness and humility.
689. 3.42True eloquence is clarity; and (Letter 3.43) the envious are only provoked by kindness.
690. 3.44Isidore calms a bishop insulted by Eusebius by pointing to Christ, who endured the Jews' violence and Judas's betrayal.
691. 3.45Orion is praised for simplicity; and (Letter 3.46) the law's exclusion of lepers is explained as a deterrent to intercourse during menstruation.
692. 3.47Isidore advises avoiding Eusebius's circle; and (Letter 3.48) praises those who are lofty in private life and modest in office.
693. 3.49One must first renounce vice before seeking the heights of virtue.
694. 3.50Even a king should remember the instability of fortune; and (Letter 3.51) Ps 137:4 means that worship was bound to Jerusalem and that the captives had lost their confidence to praise God's past deeds.
695. 3.52Prosperity should not make one proud, for justice overtakes the arrogant through their own means.
696. 3.53Eph 2:15 means that the Gospel's higher precepts contain and surpass the law, as Christ's commands on lust and anger include those on adultery and murder.
697. 3.54Isidore urges the aged Zosimus to repent before death; and (Letter 3.55) urges someone deceived to recant as his brother did.
698. 3.56Isidore urges the victors in a lawsuit to show mercy to their defeated opponent who now begs for pardon.
699. 3.57Brevity means leaving out what is irrelevant, not proofs; demonstration may require length.
700. 3.58Heb 1:3 shows that the Son's generation is without passion, eternal, and that he subsists as a distinct hypostasis.
701. 3.59Isidore rebukes Zosimus for treacherously plotting against his benefactor.
702. 3.60As farmers and sailors must use the right season, Christians must labour now and receive their reward hereafter.
703. 3.61Even pagans practised virtue for glory; the wayward clergy are moved by nothing at all.
704. 3.62Isidore retracts his earlier praise of Athanasius, who has changed for the worse, and urges him to return to virtue.
705. 3.63Against the Arians and Eunomians: eternity is proper to God, so the Son cannot be later than the Father.
706. 3.64Isidore consoles Paul, slandered by Chaeremon, a cleric deposed by one bishop and reordained by Eusebius.
707. 3.65Learning is valuable only when it serves the truth.
708. 3.66Matt 5:28–29 condemns deliberate lustful gazing; Proverbs, Sirach and pagan examples agree that one must guard the eyes.
709. 3.67Though tempted to give up on Zosimus, Isidore writes again in hope and urges him to repent.
710. 3.68Isidore rebukes clergy whose office makes them proud; and (Letter 3.69) commends humility.
711. 3.70Isidore laments the scandalous presbyter Zosimus and the bishop who ordained him, and says he will not stop admonishing him.
712. 3.71God is merciful but also punishes those who despise his mercy, so one must repent rather than presume on it.
713. 3.72True rule is over willing subjects; and (Letter 3.73) faith that justifies must show itself in works, without which there is no salvation.
714. 3.74Legitimate rule serves the subjects' good; rule for one's own pleasure is tyranny.
715. 3.75Rom 12:1 makes every believer priest of his own body, offering purity, while the ordained alone offer the bloodless sacrifice.
716. 3.76Moses permitted the bill of divorce not as right but to prevent a worse evil, the murder of hated wives and secret adultery; Christ defended Moses ("because of your hardness of heart"), allowing a wife to be put away only for adultery and requiring every other fault to be borne.
717. 3.77Isidore explains why risen bodies are called spiritual (1 Cor 15:44) and what this means for the bodies of sinners.
718. 3.78Job 29:25 LXX means that Job ruled soldiers, barbarians or robbers justly and firmly.
719. 3.79One should study for the sake of truth, not for glory.
720. 3.80Isidore warns the aged Zosimus, who deliberately shuts out all good, to turn from evil before death.
721. 3.81Isidore explains to Zosimus that there are good "passions" such as mercy and pity, citing Demosthenes, Josephus and Philo, and urges him to forsake the shameful ones.
722. 3.82Bishop Eusebius's misconduct after Timothy's death shows how much Timothy had restrained him.
723. 3.83The soul's beauty should remain unchanged in trials.
724. 3.84The laws against mixed fabrics and on leprosy of garments and houses teach simplicity, modesty and contentment with need.
725. 3.85Isidore rebukes a presbyter who profits from grain shortages.
726. 3.86Isidore asks a book-carrier to report the line-count of some books exactly.
727. 3.87Isidore describes his friendship with Eutonius, born of shared hatred of evil and defence of the faith, as lasting because it rests on virtue.
728. 3.88Despite church leaders who enrich themselves under pretext of the poor, one should follow the faithful ones.
729. 3.89Isidore computes Daniel's seventy weeks from Artaxerxes' twentieth year to the Jewish War; (3.90) rebukes Zosimus, whose life brings reproach on the church; (3.91) praises the late Timothy; and (3.92) explains homonymy and synonymy with Scriptural examples.
730. 3.93God is good by nature and freely; human goodness is acquired by training and can be lost.
731. 3.94Isidore refutes a Jew who applied Deut 18:15 to Joshua; (3.95) explains the image of God as rule and the likeness as virtue gained by choice; (3.96–3.99) urges diligence, rebukes Zosimus, praises a monk's progress, and defends a just bishop against slanderers.
732. 3.100Doing wrong, not suffering it, is the evil; and (Letter 3.101) poverty is no disgrace, only vice is.
733. 3.102Isidore challenges a pagan rhetor to reconcile praising virtue with crediting fortune; and (Letter 3.103) warns a bishop that the wicked clergy unite against the good.
734. 3.104Isidore condemns Christians who wage spiritual civil war by scandalizing brothers; (3.105) rebukes ingratitude; (3.106) explains why Scripture was written down; (3.107) interprets the sower; (3.108) explains why involuntary killers lived among the Levites.
735. 3.109The return of the manslayer at the high priest's death foreshadows Christ's death, which restores believers to the heavenly Jerusalem.
736. 3.110The "second-first Sabbath" of Luke 6:1 is the first day of Unleavened Bread after the Passover; a feast falling on a Sabbath is a "Sabbath of Sabbaths".
737. 3.111Clergy who enrich themselves from funds for the poor should be corrected or shunned.
738. 3.112Singular expressions in Scripture show the one divine essence and plural ones the three hypostases, refuting both Arians and Jews.
739. 3.113Isidore fears his warnings to the slanderous Zosimus are wasted.
740. 3.114Isidore praises Lampetius for using his power only as Scripture allows.
741. 3.115Joseph bound Simeon because, as second eldest, he led the plot instead of supporting Reuben's counsel.
742. 3.116Risks are honourable only when run for a good cause; Maron's are run for vice.
743. 3.117Christ calls human goodness "evil" (Matt 7:11) only by comparison with God's, as the parable of the unforgiving servant shows.
744. 3.118Eloquence, virtue and true faith together make the perfect Christian.
745. 3.119John 10:8 refers not to the prophets but to self-appointed false prophets and rebel leaders.
746. 3.120Doing and teaching together are greatest; and (Letter 3.121) rebuke should be frank yet gentle, as Isidore advises for the proud soldier Isaiah.
747. 3.122No one can snatch believers from God's hand by force, though they may fall away by their own carelessness; and (Letter 3.123) a good life outweighs eloquence.
748. 3.124One must avoid the company of the wicked for one's reputation; (3.125) heretics dilute Scripture like wine with water; (3.126) Christ's contest crowns the one who turns the other cheek; (3.127) unworthy men buy the priesthood, which is higher than kingship.
749. 3.128Isidore sees the fall of Jerusalem and the dispersion as a partial punishment of the Jews for rejecting Christ.
750. 3.129Remembrance of God heals grief (Ps 77:3); (another letter) Christ is beautiful in Godhead and virtue yet without form in his passion; (another letter) "Do not be very righteous" (Eccl 7:16) teaches the mean of virtue and mercy beyond strict justice.
751. 3.130Isidore declines to attempt a full praise of Bishop Hermogenes, whose virtues exceed his powers.
752. 3.131Office and glory, examined even at their best, make neither body nor soul better and often worse; only freedom from the passions is truly royal.
753. 3.134Isidore tells Zosimus either to stop his scandalous conduct or to keep away from the altar.
754. 3.135If fate governed everything, it would also be fate that denies fate through Isidore, so the fatalist refutes himself.
755. 3.136Scripture must be interpreted from its context and occasion, not by tearing sayings out of it.
756. 3.137Flattery is more dangerous than fear; and (Letter 3.138) love of God shines brighter joined with love of neighbour.
757. 3.139Daniel and the three young men learned literature but not Chaldean astrology, as their faithfulness and deliverance show.
758. 3.140A bishop should help the poor without contempt; (3.141) against the Sabellians, the Son is called Word yet subsists in himself; (3.142) Matt 5:16 and 6:1 agree, since good works should glorify God, not ourselves.
759. 3.143Bodily beauty is fleeting and should be despised, especially when it leads to sin.
760. 3.144Ceasing to add sin to sin is the first step toward virtue, as a runner must stop before turning back.
761. 3.145Friendship requires equality, not flattery; (3.146) Timothy kept surpassing his own good name; (3.147) Christ's "Rise, let us go hence" lifts believers toward heaven.
762. 3.148Mastering the passions makes one a true hero.
763. 3.149Eternity belongs to God alone, and the Trinity is three in properties, one in essence; and (Letter 3.150) a newly ordained priest should honour God's choice by ordering his soul.
764. 3.151The free soul is marked by the virtues, the servile soul by passions.
765. 3.152Miriam alone was punished in Num 12 because Scripture names her first, showing that she instigated the slander.
766. 3.153Isidore blames Palladius and Maron as much as Zosimus, since they support his wickedness.
767. 3.154A long treatise against astrological fate and fortune: they abolish providence, morality and all the arts, while the pagan sages themselves bore misfortune calmly and expected a judgment to come.
768. 3.155Do not lead the temperate into luxury; and (Letter 3.156) the devil cannot read thoughts but guesses our weaknesses from outward behaviour.
769. 3.157Repentance is no licence to sin: death may come first, healing is long and laborious, and scars remain.
770. 3.158True faith is shown by works rather than words.
771. 3.159Phinehas's zeal against the sexual immorality and idolatry provoked by the Midianite women stopped the plague and won him the priesthood.
772. 3.160Abraham's patience when Sarah was taken by Pharaoh, rewarded by God's intervention, teaches trust in trials.
773. 3.161The hand that wrote on Belshazzar's wall showed by condescension that God himself was condemning the drunken tyrant.
774. 3.162One should hide one's good deeds and remain watchful, since the end is uncertain and people readily believe evil.
775. 3.163True piety is a pure mind and a chaste body; without them no offering pleases God.
776. 3.164Isidore rebukes Theodore for rejecting those who interceded for slaves, against the natural law of mercy.
777. 3.165Gal 1:8 guards the gospel against demons posing as angels; and (Letter 3.166) Christ's coming in the Father's own glory shows they share one essence.
778. 3.167Love of money, unlike other passions, never reaches satiety; Maron must quench it before judgment.
779. 3.168God never abandons the one who holds to what is right.
780. 3.169Without virtue the greatest advantages are slavish; virtue alone is royal and immortal.
781. 3.170The faithful steward of Matt 24:45 gives food in season; timeliness makes every gift greater, as God's ordering of the seasons shows.
782. 3.171In prayer we should ask for what God knows is good for us; and (Letter 3.172) external goods are good or bad according to their use.
783. 3.173Time flows away too swiftly to be grasped, leaving only dream-shadows.
784. 3.174Isidore encourages Eutonius to be steadfast; and (Letter 3.175) describes the qualities of a just judge, which the venal Zosimus lacks.
785. 3.176In 1 Cor 9:5 the "sister as wife" means a believing woman who supported the apostles, not a spouse; "woman" names the sex, as when Mary the Virgin is called "woman" (Gal 4:4).
786. 3.177God's remedies are offered to all, but only those who accept painful treatment are healed.
787. 3.178Isidore advises silence about the scandal of Eusebius reordaining the deposed Chaeremon, since only edifying things should be told.
788. 3.179Humility is an ascent, and it is formed by moderation in every outward detail of life.
789. 3.180Isidore discusses why Sarah said "Who will tell Abraham that Sarah is nursing?" (Gen 21:7): nursing proved the child was truly hers.
790. 3.181The best revenge on an enemy is to become good, and the highest philosophy is to pray for and pity those who wrong us.
791. 3.182God's power was perfected in the apostles' weakness (2 Cor 12:9), since they conquered by suffering.
792. 3.183Quoting others' writings is better than idle chatter.
793. 3.184Paul often argues by questions (Heb 12:7; 1 Cor 11:13), which persuade more gently and effectively than assertions.
794. 3.185Useless pursuits are not true arts; and (Letter 3.186) Paul distinguishes heavenly-mindedness and magnanimity from arrogance.
795. 3.187Isidore distinguishes pride (phronema) from prudence (phronesis) and urges cultivating the second.
796. 3.188Humility comes from greatness of soul, pride from pettiness, as Abraham and the Pharisee show.
797. 3.189One who teaches must first practise what he teaches, or else keep silent.
798. 3.190A calm character shows a steady mind; (3.191) fate is incompatible with God, law, judgment, prayer and every art; (3.192) self-sufficiency, not luxury, is the mother of health.
799. 3.193Isidore urges a bishop to reform the wayward clergy or else cut them off.
800. 3.194True kingship serves its subjects; (another letter) infants are baptized not only to wash away the inherited stain of Adam but to receive adoption, union with Christ and every gift of grace; (another letter) God's patience must not breed carelessness.
801. 3.195Timothy, though hindered by Eusebius, died renowned; (another letter) Isa 1:18 means God heals the worst sins in part and lesser ones completely.
802. 3.199Guarding the eyes keeps one from desire more purely and easily than fighting it after looking.
803. 3.200Isidore grieves calmly over Zosimus; and (Letter 3.201) the uneven distribution of punishment and reward in this life proves a coming general judgment.
804. 3.202Priests must teach by their lives (Isa 40:2); and (Letter 3.203) punishment in this life either cleanses lesser sins or lightens the judgment to come.
805. 3.204One should moderate both grief and joy, remembering how quickly fortune changes.
806. 3.205As sensible people judge soldiers and orators by their intention rather than the outcome, so Christians despise worldly success and seek victory over demons and passions.
807. 3.206Isidore asks a bishop to judge whether "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" differ.
808. 3.207The joy of heaven so surpasses present sufferings that the saints count them as nothing (Rom 8:18).
809. 3.208Man tames lions but lets his own anger grow wilder than a lion's; Isidore urges a monk to correct an angry brother.
810. 3.209Love of gold weakens love of Christ; drive out the one and the other will grow.
811. 3.210Zosimus's luxury feeds his lust; only by cutting off the fuel can the fire be quenched.
812. 3.211Forget enmity quickly and keep friendship; we cannot avoid being hated, but must hate only vice, not people.
813. 3.212Greed for money and office leads to ever worse crimes; passions must be mastered at the start.
814. 3.213People are sober in adversity but run riot in prosperity, as Israel did after entering the land.
815. 3.214From God's works we can know that he is, but not what he is.
816. 3.215Those who knowingly obscure the truth by rhetoric sin worse than those ignorant of it.
817. 3.216Isidore explains that 1 Tim 3:1 praises the work of a bishop, not the ambition for it, and describes at length the duties and dangers that should deter the unworthy.
818. 3.217Those who care for the soul are content with necessities, while the greedy are always poor in their own eyes.
819. 3.218Isidore urges the aged Zosimus to recognize that bodily pleasures bring punishment.
820. 3.219The plague after David's census punished both the people for supporting Absalom's revolt and David for the census, each for his own sin.
821. 3.220Isidore asks a governor to relieve the unfortunate.
822. 3.221Isidore rebukes two clerics whose wicked will exceeds even their wicked deeds.
823. 3.222True modesty condescends to the lowly and is free of flattery and hypocrisy.
824. 3.223Isidore praises Hierax for refusing a church office, and contrasts the self-sacrificing pastors of old with the tyrannical clergy of his day.
825. 3.224Isidore shames the proud Zosimus with a pagan epitaph praising humility; and (Letter 3.225) argues that one wronged unwillingly who refrains from retaliation deserves an even greater crown.
826. 3.226Praising good advice obliges one to follow it.
827. 3.227The blessed life is founded on deadening the passions.
828. 3.228Isidore congratulates a monk on resisting the devil and warns him of the enemy's many-sided attacks.
829. 3.229Isidore tells an official not to defile his own tongue by abusing Zosimus, even if the charges are true.
830. 3.230Once offenders admit their fault, reproaching them is untimely.
831. 3.231God refused to spare Jerusalem (Ezek 5:11) because, unlike Nineveh, its people did not repent.
832. 3.232Those who live wickedly have no right to speculate about God (Ps 50:16; Isa 58:2); one should affirm that God is, not pry into what he is.
833. 3.233False premises make sound conclusions impossible.
834. 3.234The greedy are so mastered by love of money that, unlike the monks who never know it, they no longer even see it as a vice.
835. 3.235Isidore argues against Zosimus from the philosophers, from reason and from Matt 10:28 that the soul is immortal.
836. 3.236With playful proverbs, Isidore thanks Eulogius for living up to his name by praising him.
837. 3.237People seem righteous to themselves (Prov 21:2) by comparing themselves with worse people instead of with God's commandments.
838. 3.238Isa 40:2 means priests must teach by deeds that reach the heart, not by words only.
839. 3.239Isidore urges Palladius to recover his good name, which has turned into disrepute.
840. 3.240Wicked clergy will be punished the more for the honour they abused.
841. 3.241Isidore credits God, not himself, for anything good he writes.
842. 3.242Against a pagan who blames Christianity for its bad clergy, Isidore argues that a teaching must be judged on its own merits, not by its worst adherents.
843. 3.243Isidore explains Gen 2:23 by deriving "woman" (gyne) from "generation" (gone): man and woman are correlative, like sower and field.
844. 3.244Being prevented from doing wrong is itself a benefit deserving gratitude.
845. 3.245Isidore laments the decline of Pelusium from the time of Bishop Ammonius to that of Eusebius, who admits the unworthy to the altar.
846. 3.246True peace is joined with justice; Christ rejected only the peace that colludes with evil.
847. 3.247Isidore encourages Eutonius to rebuke Eusebius and his clergy gently and to trust God's justice.
848. 3.248Isidore reports a discussion in which everyone agreed that Zosimus alone has no virtue at all, and urges him to repent, since death does not end the soul's existence.
849. 3.249Dan 9:26 LXX foretold the end of both the Jewish priesthood ("anointing") and kingship ("judgment") after the cross.
850. 3.250Exod 23:3 forbids favouring the poor in a lawsuit: they deserve pity when they beg, not when they bring false charges.
851. 3.251Virtue alone truly dignifies, yet most prefer outward goods through short-sightedness or unbelief.
852. 3.252Adam died on the day he sinned in the sense that sin brings death under sentence and the departure of the Holy Spirit from the soul.
853. 3.253Isidore sends Herminus his short treatise against fate, asking him to judge it critically.
854. 3.254Christ forbids lustful looking and anger in order to cut off adultery and murder at the root.
855. 3.255Prosperity should not change a wise man's loyalty to his friends.
856. 3.256Isidore declines to praise Bishop Theodosius, whose merits exceed his words.
857. 3.257Isidore reads Dan 9:26 as foretelling that God, with Christ the coming leader, would destroy Jerusalem and the temple for rejecting him, citing Josephus.
858. 3.258Isidore blames Bishop Eusebius, who ordained him, more than the incorrigible deacon Chaeremon.
859. 3.259A teacher needs a pure life and good speech; church discipline fails because bishops receive and favour clergy condemned by others, and unworthy men seize the teaching office.
860. 3.260Isidore condemns Zosimus for absolving a perjurer in return for a gift: forgiveness requires restitution to the injured, and the power to bind and loose belongs to those led by the Spirit, not to venal priests.
861. 3.261Sins destroy those who give birth to them, as vipers are said to kill their mothers at birth.
862. 3.262Isidore asks a bishop to help a son who has come to free his father from prison.
863. 3.263Isidore advises a governor to rule justly, without favour or enmity, and to use the sword as little as possible.
864. 3.264True greatness of mind combines loftiness and humility, as in Abraham, and must not be confused with arrogance or servility.
865. 3.265Those who teach must themselves compete for virtue, not merely proclaim others' victories, as Paul did (1 Cor 9:27).
866. 3.266Isidore explains sophrosyne as soundness of mind and purity; and (Letter 3.267) shows that scriptural comparisons, like Christ the lion (Gen 49:9), apply only in the point intended.
867. 3.268Piety is to the soul's beauty what the eyes are to the body's.
868. 3.269Those misled by false teaching should be healed by repentance.
869. 3.270Isidore urges a bishop to pray rather than lament for Pelusium, ruined under Eusebius, since letters to Eusebius have achieved nothing.
870. 3.271Grace is given impartially but in the measure of each person's will and faith, as with Paul, the chosen vessel.
871. 3.272Isidore reassures a monk whom Bishop Eusebius calls mad for not sharing his vices.
872. 3.273Isidore invites a bishop to celebrate the return of a friend to the ascetic life.
873. 3.274Sir 7:6 warns against seeking to judge, since justice is hard to discern and easy to corrupt.
874. 3.275Isidore urges the four wayward clerics to repent, since priesthood increases the punishment of the unworthy.
875. 3.276Isidore will advise Aphthonius only toward godly, not worldly, distinction.
876. 3.277Deut 16:20 condemns those who care for the poor only to enrich themselves.
877. 3.278The Pharisee's self-praise was condemned because unprovoked, while Job's was justified as a defence against slander.
878. 3.279Isidore waited for Peter's grief to ease before consoling him: death is common to all, and all will give account.
879. 3.280Enemies can be useful, since their abuse reveals faults that flattering friends conceal.
880. 3.281Flatterers who echo the rich are a great evil; one must neither flatter nor accept flattery.
881. 3.282Isidore is not to blame that Eusebius and his clergy ignore his warnings, as Paul was not to blame for the Galatians.
882. 3.283As Hezekiah was humbled by sickness after his great victory, prosperity should make one restrain excessive joy.
883. 3.284Rom 12:18 limits peace: one must not keep peace at the cost of piety or justice, as Paul allowed even a believer's marriage to dissolve (1 Cor 7:15).
884. 3.285Isidore chooses friends of great virtue and few faults, keeping peace without intimacy with the rest.
885. 3.286Christ's coming turned pagan festivals of vice into a true feast of piety and virtue.
886. 3.287Isidore urges the pupils of a presbyter to guard their senses so that no corrupter dares approach them.
887. 3.288Two namesakes share not only a name but bad character, shown in their shameless bearing.
888. 3.289Moses chose Joshua, not his own sons, to succeed him, and appointed Aaron only by God's command: office belongs to virtue, not birth.
889. 3.290Isidore tells the deacon Chaeremon not to mock Bishop Eusebius while committing the same faults, though Eusebius deserves the insults of the man he wrongly ordained.
890. 3.291Mastery of the passions is the true victory; a soldier enslaved to pleasure is no hero.
891. 3.292Interpreters must follow Scripture's meaning, not bend it to their own.
892. 3.293Drunkenness affects temperaments differently, but reason can master the passion either way.
893. 3.294The Jews' permanent exile witnesses to the Crucified; and God, father of orphans and judge of widows, will punish those who enrich themselves by wronging them.
894. 3.295Isidore proves the soul's immortality and future judgment from Matt 10:28, the Song of the Three, and Isaiah, and urges the wayward clergy to repent while there is time.
895. 3.296In Gen 22:17 the stars are Abraham's descendants who shine with faith and good works, the sand those who are earthbound and unstable.
896. 3.297Estranged friends should be reconciled quickly, before time hardens the breach.
897. 3.298Exod 23:3 forbids favouring a poor man who turns from entreaty to false accusation, though the winner may afterwards show mercy.
898. 3.299Only God can cure Zosimus, who does not even know he is sick.
899. 3.300Paul taught boldly even while on trial, because the Spirit of wisdom was in him.
900. 3.301The same words can express reason or anger depending on tone.
901. 3.302Isidore asks Alypius to welcome a friend who comes to make amends.
902. 3.303Reason must govern anger in speech and writing.
903. 3.304Isidore asks Theophilus to praise the late Timothy; and (Letter 3.305) sees the fall of Jerusalem as punishment of the Jews for the crucifixion.
904. 3.306A bishop who obeys the canons becomes himself a living rule.
905. 3.307People judge others by themselves: the chaste think all chaste, the lustful all lustful.
906. 3.308The spring festival (Easter) shows that the soul freed from the winter of sin must persevere, for judgment follows as summer follows spring.
907. 3.309Humility enlarges good deeds, as the tax collector shows; and (Letter 3.310) people do evil readily but resist good even when shown it.
908. 3.311Isidore announces the death of the good presbyter Eustathius; and (Letter 3.312) says he readily believes good reports and silences slander.
909. 3.313Christ conquered sinful humanity like a barbarian foe and then pitied it as his own.
910. 3.314A good official prevents wrongs as well as punishing them; and (Letter 3.315) an incorruptible judge is the rule of justice.
911. 3.316Dan 2:21 refers to Daniel himself, to whom God revealed Nebuchadnezzar's dream and thoughts, and more generally to those who fear God and prepare themselves for his grace.
912. 3.317The gospel spread because the preachers lived what they taught; and (Letter 3.318) virtue masters every change of fortune.
913. 3.319Eusebius punishes before proof; (3.320) "Do not be very righteous" (Eccl 7:16) teaches mercy beyond justice and the mean of virtue; (3.321) each virtue is a mean; (3.322) seek virtue, not wealth; (3.323) Isidore turns to prayer for Zosimus.
914. 3.324Isidore urges a monk to keep watch; (3.325) laments clergy who appropriate church funds and busy themselves with worldly affairs; (3.326) labour makes goods dearer; (3.327) the law of retaliation was a concession, and retaliation beyond measure is itself wrong.
915. 3.328Gratitude to benefactors must not extend to helping them do wrong.
916. 3.329The "new song" of the Psalms celebrates Christ's victory over the demons and humanity's liberation.
917. 3.330A bishop should comfort the afflicted: trials either lighten sins or win crowns.
918. 3.331The good presbyter Eustathius has died, mourned by the virtuous and mocked by the wicked.
919. 3.332Nebuchadnezzar lost his sanity and throne for pride and regained them when he acknowledged God.
920. 3.333The four wayward clerics rival each other in wickedness so that none can be stopped.
921. 3.334Against the Eunomians Isidore explains John 4:22 and John 14:28: Christ spoke as a Jew to the Samaritan woman and called the Father "greater" to comfort the apostles, while the Son is equal in essence.
922. 3.335Isidore shows from many Scriptural examples that "cannot" often means "it is not fitting", so John 5:19 declares the Son's perfect unity of will and essence with the Father, not weakness.
923. 3.336Actors do not reform their audience by satire; they live on its vices.
924. 3.337Like a good physician, a bishop should first treat the most urgent ills of souls.
925. 3.338Anger allied with reason can defeat bodily pleasures, as Ps 4:4 teaches.
926. 3.339Not all of the Old Testament should be forced into prophecy of Christ; (3.340) a sacrament is valid even from an unworthy priest, who should nonetheless repent or withdraw; (3.341) Deut 8:3; (3.342) against the Arians, "greater" implies comparison and so excludes the Son's being a creature.
927. 3.343An intelligent listener is a great gift, needing only seeds of teaching to bear fruit.
928. 3.344Isidore praises Hierax for a good deed made greater by its promptness.
929. 3.345As natural understanding can surpass literacy, the unlettered apostles, filled with divine wisdom, overcame the orators.
930. 3.346Paul argued with each audience from its own premises, as with the Athenian altar; and (Letter 3.347) one should spare defeated enemies.
931. 3.348Isidore warns a soldier that bringing counter-charges will not clear him of an insult already proved.
932. 3.349Isidore has renounced a false friend; and (Letter 3.350) the poets' myths glorified the low-born.
933. 3.351Isidore defends virginity against those who call it cowardly avoidance of life's risks: marriage is good but brings cares that hinder salvation, and virginity surpasses it as the sun the stars; and (Letter 3.352) only the one who masters the passions truly lives.
934. 3.353Chaeremon perjures himself freely, but Bishop Eusebius, who supports him, bears the greater guilt.
935. 3.354A priest's true wealth and pleasure lie in virtue and his people's progress.
936. 3.355Against the Arians, Heb 1:3 shows the Son eternal and subsistent; and (another letter) Dan 6:3 compares Daniel with all the officials because kings often promote the unworthy.
937. 3.356Isidore warns the arrogant soldier Isaiah of God's power to punish.
938. 3.358One free from love of money wrongs neither rich nor poor.
939. 3.359Flattery is more dangerous than fear, since people yield to it gladly.
940. 3.360The righteous confess their sins, while sinners boast, as Zosimus does; this is a sign of his derangement.
941. 3.361Hierax's good deed deserves eternal life rather than a statue.
942. 3.362A teacher needs both deeds and words, though deeds without words are better than words without deeds.
943. 3.363Unbelievers should be won by persuasion and example, not force.
944. 3.364Sinners who abstain from the Eucharist are on the way to amendment, but those who receive unworthily, like Judas, give themselves over to the devil.
945. 3.365Justice requires accusation, trial and proof before a proportionate verdict.
946. 3.366Isidore prays for the wayward clergy's conversion, wishing like Moses and Paul for the salvation of others more than his own reward.
947. 3.367Eusebius's false accusations against others only expose his own guilt.
948. 3.368Zosimus must rein in the passions he has let run wild.
949. 3.369Eustathius has deadened his reason by carelessness and must turn back; and (Letter 3.370) clergy who rule by arrogance drive away those whom the apostles won by gentleness.
950. 3.371The frugal man is rich in soul and content; the luxurious man is poor in soul and covets others' goods.
951. 3.372Isidore rejoices at Theon's victory over Maron; and (Letter 3.373) good deeds are made great by not thinking them great.
952. 3.374Virtue is better than education; (3.375) Isidore praises a presbyter's firm gentleness; (3.376) Christ, the Word and Wisdom, does not reject learning unless it serves vice and idolatry.
953. 3.377True victory is over one's own passions; and (Letter 3.378) Isidore asks prayers for a friend in great trouble.
954. 3.379A free spirit avoids both arrogance and flattery.
955. 3.380Quarrelling friends expect reconciliation; enemies do not.
956. 3.381Isidore defines greatness of mind, humility, vainglory, arrogance and magnanimity.
957. 3.382Isidore asks a friend to thank God for his writing and not to praise him excessively.
958. 3.383Silencing deserved praise from envy and praising the unworthy are kindred faults.
959. 3.384Isidore urges an official to add the other virtues to his gentleness and courage.
960. 3.385The devil attacks each person at the weakest point, as he exploited Judas's love of money.
961. 3.386If Daniel fell before an angel, the Arians are reckless to measure the divine nature with arguments.
962. 3.387Isidore praises a bishop worthy of his office and urges him to stay watchful.
963. 3.388Isidore describes the inexhaustible delight of reading the inspired Scriptures, which makes earthly goods seem nothing.
964. 3.389Exod 23:5, on helping an enemy's fallen donkey, was given to bring enemies to reconciliation.
965. 3.390Isidore would rather suffer for good than be honoured for wrong; (another letter) the stars were given to the nations to lead them to the Creator, not to be worshipped (Deut 4:19); (another letter) a good name is better than wealth.
966. 3.391Rhetoric is good when it serves truth and bad when it serves vice.
967. 3.394Isidore advises Dorotheus, scandalized by bishops who sell ordination like Simon Magus, to await God's judgment and examine himself; (3.395) a true feast is pure; (3.396) a judge must be free of love of money.
968. 3.397Isidore resolves his doubts about rebuking sinners: one should speak frankly but gently, as the prophets did, and leave the cure to God.
969. 3.398In the parable of the talents, the money is the teaching of Scripture and the interest is good works.
970. 3.399Paul "dies daily" (1 Cor 15:31) by readiness for death and by dying to worldly pleasures.
971. 3.400Knowing shame frees from shame; and (Letter 3.401) if even ascetics who fall once are not pardoned, how much less those who feed their lust with luxury.
972. 3.402John's repeated "was" in John 1:1 proclaims the Word's eternity against the Arian claim that he came from nothing.
973. 3.403Right doctrine and right living must be joined, since faith without works is dead (Jas 2:26).
974. 3.404Avoid small quarrels, which kindle great conflicts.
975. 3.405God's name was blasphemed because of Israel's sins (Isa 52:5), and Christians who do not practise what they teach cause the same blasphemy now.
976. 3.406God helps those who do their part; and (Letter 3.407) one must either correct Eusebius or leave him.
977. 3.408Isidore laments that the church, once full of the Spirit's gifts, has lost its virtue through simony and strife, and urges a monk to keep his lamp burning for the Bridegroom.
978. 3.409Isidore commends a friend who comes to serve the bishop.
979. 3.410Friends must bear one another's small faults, fulfilling Christ's new commandment of self-giving love.
980. 3.411Isidore again explains the exclusion of lepers as a deterrent against intercourse during menstruation, citing Ezekiel.
981. 3.412Love of money is a drunkenness worse than drink, since it is not even natural; its fuel must be removed.
982. 3.413Unbelief in the judgment comes from a bad conscience; poets and philosophers too foretell it.
983. 4.1Scripture calls time a crown and a wheel because the year turns in a circle, its seasons blending gently into one another by the Creator's design.
984. 4.2The prayer that God nail down one's flesh with fear fits those who discipline the body, not a glutton like Zosimus.
985. 4.3Asking God to nail down one's flesh means asking that it be put to death toward pleasure, so a man who feasts at others' tables should not pray it.
986. 4.4A man who feeds his passions cannot sincerely pray for his flesh to be nailed down; such a prayer tries to deceive God.
987. 4.5The queens, concubines, and maidens of the Song are souls acting from hope of the kingdom, fear of punishment, or worldly motives; the one perfect dove is the Church, or the saints who do good for its own sake.
988. 4.6Paul's call to become a fool means emptying out conceit, especially the swollen wisdom of the Greeks, so that humility can receive divine teaching.
989. 4.10Five short letters: Paul prays that the Corinthians do no wrong rather than gain fame from punishing them; Lamech was pardoned because he confessed; the three young men's song; the tongue as fire; feeding a hungry enemy is less than loving him.
990. 4.12Two letters: Paul's advice that a Christian slave should rather remain a slave, since he will give a lighter account; and God's help comes to those who exert themselves.
991. 4.14God warns those who stand, but offers his hand and pardon to the fallen who repent.
992. 4.15Three letters: the Word came to clothe humanity again in love, the sum of the virtues; honour must be paid without flattery; Haggai's "latter glory" shows that the temple will not be rebuilt.
993. 4.18Clergy must not quote Christ's words about the seat of Moses to excuse their own bad lives; their teaching is credible only if their life matches it.
994. 4.19Two letters: Isidore asks Dorotheus whether his delay abroad is for the sake of winning people to Christ; those who live badly cannot credibly discuss doctrine.
995. 4.21Theon should either seek a teacher, if his judgment is unsound, or prove it sound by a life that matches his words.
996. 4.22Christ's self-emptying is an example of humility only because he is equal with God by nature; a true son can stoop without risk to his rank, as an adopted slave could not.
997. 4.23Ahab could not escape the death foretold to him, because divine justice turns men's own schemes against them.
998. 4.24Each petition of the Lord's Prayer can be prayed honestly only by the baptized who live accordingly; on the lips of the dissolute it is mockery.
999. 4.25Those free of self-love judge their own sins as strictly as others' and punish themselves by repentance, as Christ's saying on the speck and the log requires.
1000. 4.26Esau's tears did not win back the blessing because he had lawfully sold the birthright and lacked virtue, not because God despises repentance.
1001. 4.27Every pagan sneer at the dead Christ, the cross, the unlearned apostles, and the tomb only shames the gods, sages, and temples that were defeated by them.
1002. 4.28The plain, ungrammatical style the Greeks mock in Scripture proves its power, since it conquered the world where Plato could not win over one tyrant.
1003. 4.29The cross, death, and tomb that pagans mock defeated idolatry, the demons, death, and the devil, so Paul is not ashamed of the gospel.
1004. 4.30Plato's disdain for eloquence and Homer's claim to be taught by a god show that the apostles' lack of learning proves their message divine.
1005. 4.31Isidore recounts silencing a pagan rhetor: the Gospels that record the crucifixion also record the resurrection and ascension, so one cannot accept the one and reject the other.
1006. 4.32The cross upholds all creation, bringing joy to heaven, freedom to earth, and reconciling what was divided.
1007. 4.33Attentive reading of Scripture kindles love for its teachings, the foundation of a heavenly way of life.
1008. 4.34A Christian is known by his conduct, not by his dress or words, as a philosopher is known by his life, not his cloak.
1009. 4.35The Law's ban on bestiality and the Psalmist's rejection of evildoers both warn against corrupting company, as Amnon and Absalom, ruined by bad counsellors, show.
1010. 4.36Peace with evildoers is no virtue; Paul's "if possible" admits that peace with all is sometimes impossible.
1011. 4.37Christians must do their part to keep peace even with the hostile, so long as piety is not harmed.
1012. 4.38Acting from reason rather than anger, as Proverbs bids, leads to good ends.
1013. 4.39Since words and deeds cannot be recalled, one should deliberate first, as Proverbs advises, to avoid regret.
1014. 4.40Two letters: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song are read in that order, from moral virtue to contempt of the world to divine love, and the young should not read the Song first; almsgiving done for praise is still better than none.
1015. 4.42Paul excludes drunkards and revilers from the kingdom along with adulterers, but does not say their punishment will be equal; each is judged by the measure of his sins.
1016. 4.43God fed Elijah by a raven, a bird thought to neglect its young, to rebuke the prophet's harshness in calling down famine on Israel.
1017. 4.44The proverb of the sour grapes was the excuse of sinful Israel, not Scripture's teaching; God answered that each soul dies for its own sin.
1018. 4.45As the elders who accused Susanna were caught by their own charge, so Bishop Eusebius, who abuses his office, will be repaid in time.
1019. 4.46Two letters: Paul no longer knows Christ according to the flesh because kinship by virtue counts more than kinship by blood; God sees everything, punishes the unrepentant, and receives those who confess.
1020. 4.48Christ's "Rise, let us go hence" lifts his disciples from earthly attachments toward heaven.
1021. 4.49Two letters: the empty words without taste of Job are either harmless slander or speech that needs the salt of Scripture and judgment; Herod was struck down for accepting the crowd's flattery.
1022. 4.51Salvation comes from God's grace together with human willingness: all are called, but the purpose of those who respond makes the call effective.
1023. 4.52Sin is worse than death, since death ends at the resurrection while sin is punished after it; without sin death has no sting, as the martyrs show.
1024. 4.53Two letters on the Golden Rule: it states the natural law, which the written law and the prophets tried to restore before Christ brought the heavenly way of life; each person carries this rule within.
1025. 4.55Two letters: pagan philosophers, physicians, and poets quarrelled among themselves from love of power as much as Christians produce heresies; heresies spring from ambition or prejudice.
1026. 4.57Heresies after Christ are no surprise: the devil sows them, and before Christ mankind was already divided by countless false opinions about God and worship.
1027. 4.58Jude's "wandering stars" are sinful men, not the planets, which move in the order the Creator appointed and cannot be punished; Isidore leaves open what the stars are.
1028. 4.59God gave sinners up to a debased mind only by withdrawing his help from people already filled with vice, not by driving them into it.
1029. 4.60Paul ranks approving sinners above sinning, because one who condemns his own sin can repent, while one who praises wickedness cuts himself off from repentance.
1030. 4.61In Rom 2:10 Paul speaks of the time before Christ, and his "Greeks" are pious Gentiles who kept the natural law, like Melchizedek, Job, and Cornelius.
1031. 4.62Before the law, sin was "dead" in that it was less clearly known, so people were punished, but less severely.
1032. 4.63Paul's comparison of present sufferings with future glory both encourages and humbles those who struggle, since the glory, already real but hidden, far outweighs them in kind and duration.
1033. 4.64Since the incarnate Word has given believers power over their enemies and greater prizes, those who are defeated have only themselves to blame.
1034. 4.65Two letters: grace justifies at first through faith, but the justified must do good works, since faith without works is dead; divine things are called fire because fire gives without diminishing and always rises.
1035. 4.67Scripture's plain style, which the Greeks mock, shows its divine care for the salvation of all, while the eloquence of philosophers served their own glory.
1036. 4.68Scripture distinguishes commands, which must be kept, from permissions granted by way of concession, as with the apostles' tolerance of circumcision and Paul's leave to dine with unbelievers.
1037. 4.69Two letters: two stories explain the Athenian altar to an unknown god, which Paul turned against the Athenians; Christians fight one another under the devil's leadership because they overvalue worldly goods.
1038. 4.71Beauty is not evil: Joseph and Susanna joined bodily beauty with chastity, and the fault lies with the soul that misuses beauty.
1039. 4.72Two letters: power is spoiled by the will of those who use it, not by fortune; the ark, mercy seat, cherubim, manna, and Aaron's rod signify the faithful soul and above all Christ, the propitiation.
1040. 4.74The fall of Jerusalem and the Jews' dispersion fulfil Christ's words and give them time and reason to repent.
1041. 4.75Josephus, a Jew, recorded the sufferings of the siege of Jerusalem so that no one could disbelieve them.
1042. 4.76Three letters: the mustard seed is the gospel, small in words but growing until philosophers take shelter under it; Joseph out-hunted his mistress by chastity; virtue made Joseph a ruler in every circumstance, humble in power and silent about his wrongs.
1043. 4.80Christ chose Paul because his life would match his grace; the gospel spread by the preachers' upright lives as much as by miracles, and teachers today should live likewise.
1044. 4.81Israel rightly put doing before hearing, since virtue is learned by practice; the bad tree and the natural man describe a present state that repentance can change.
1045. 4.82God left some things obscure so that we might exercise our minds on them and be kept humble when they escape us.
1046. 4.83What is beyond human reach, such as God's nature, cannot be captured, and those who try only labour in vain.
1047. 4.84An unjust verdict is worse than an injustice, because it removes the victim's last hope of redress.
1048. 4.85Two letters: confession of God is empty if one's deeds deny him, as even pagans and the parable of the two sons show; the law of an eye for an eye is just and humane because it deters violence.
1049. 4.87The Israelites' taking of Egyptian silver and gold was just payment of wages for long slavery, and less than the loss of freedom deserved.
1050. 4.88Even Paul urged constant reading, because memory of divine wisdom fades unless it is renewed daily.
1051. 4.89Three letters: the law's ban on favouring the poor in court checks abuse of poverty and still more the greed of the rich; learning from Scripture is needed daily; Scripture's plain clarity serves all people, unlike the quarrelling stylists and philosophers.
1052. 4.92Isidore warns Peter against quarrelling over trifles while neglecting what matters most.
1053. 4.93Five letters: the highest blessing belongs to those falsely reviled for Christ, whose words imply his divinity; God judges hidden motives, so we must not judge unclear things; the call to suffer wrong licenses no one to defraud; Christ refused pity for a willing passion; his crucifiers were guilty though God used their crime.
1054. 4.96Herod the tetrarch's crimes against John the Baptist; three explanations of why his marriage to Herodias was unlawful (Philip had children, so the levirate did not apply; she left a living husband; Herod killed his brother), with Isidore preferring the first.
1055. 4.99Against the many errors about God, Christ, and the Spirit, one should follow the Council of Nicaea, which taught the truth by divine inspiration.
1056. 4.100Four letters: Christ's death as ransom shows God's righteousness and goodness; God "gave" Israel a spirit of stupor by letting them go, and stupor means being struck down; the fear owed to rulers is respect, not dread of punishment; the Corinthian church is one member of the universal body of Christ.
1057. 4.104Great rewards need great struggles, and Paul counts suffering for Christ itself a gift and a crown.
1058. 4.105Four letters: demons feigned love of virtue to pass as gods but betrayed their evil; the servants with five and two talents are praised alike because each used what he was given; the earth trembles before God yet keeps its place; Christ triumphed over the demons on the cross.
1059. 4.109Proverbs forbids not only intercourse with a married woman but even touching her, since if a look can be adultery, touch is worse.
1060. 4.110Three letters: Ezekiel's moaning doves are the fugitives who grieve in fearful silence; Christ makes reconciliation with a wronged brother the condition of acceptable worship; Isidore defends 1 Tim 4:3 and several other passages as matters of one letter or of punctuation, and affirms that marriage and food are honourable.
1061. 4.113Isidore resolves an apparent contradiction in Heb 9:17 by a one-letter reading ("not then" for "never") or by accenting the words to mean "not at all."
1062. 4.114Five letters: people differ in their virtues and vices as their faces differ; theft is lesser than adultery as marriage is lesser than virginity, within the same kind; Lazarus and the rich man were repaid here for their few faults and good deeds; the law excluded lepers to restrain untimely intercourse; almsgiving is judged by intention and means.
1063. 4.119Two letters: Peter's call to honour wives as the weaker vessel means abstaining from intercourse at times, as the law and Paul also teach; the one who insulted another must himself heal the wound by making amends.
1064. 4.121Two letters: Lazarus's misery became the ground of his glory; a lustful look is already adultery of the heart, whatever excuses people make.
1065. 4.123The lawyer measured neighbourliness by rank or virtue; Christ, through the Samaritan, defines the neighbour by shared nature and need, and calls us to go to his help.
1066. 4.124Two letters: the soul is divine and immortal but created, not a part of God; against Galen, who made the soul the body's mixture, the soul's immortality is defended from the poets, moral responsibility, and Christ's words.
1067. 4.126Those who live wickedly have no right to debate the nature of God and should examine themselves instead.
1068. 4.127Paul's spiritual, natural, and carnal people are named from what dominates them: the Spirit's gift, mere reasoning, or the passions of the flesh.
1069. 4.128Christ died willingly: he could have saved himself by his power, by a defence that Pilate favoured, or by appeal to Caesar, but chose none of them.
1070. 4.129Ten explanations of 1 Cor 6:18; the tenth: married partners are one body, so adultery alone is a sin against the spouse, which is why Christ allowed a wife to be put away for fornication only.
1071. 4.130Two letters: hearers of debates, including interpreters of Scripture, should listen to both sides but judge them unequally, and speakers should dispute without quarrelling; foreknowledge of one's future would be useless and harmful.
1072. 4.133Because bishops neglect Scripture and follow their passions, they wage war on one another, lose the respect of their flocks, and give them excuses for sin.
1073. 4.134The law and the prophets prepare for the gospel, which governs the soul and intention, not only outward action.
1074. 4.135Only those who honour holy people for the sake of goodness itself, not for glory or gain, share in their reward.
1075. 4.136Two letters: the violent who seize the kingdom are those who master their bodies by asceticism; Christians should copy the dove's innocence but not its folly, like Ephraim's in seeking help from his enemies.
1076. 4.138Hope of future reward and prayer guard the soul against despondency in tribulation.
1077. 4.139Ten letters: rebuke sin with love and bear abuse; Scripture serves salvation, not glory; the law's exclusions of the unclean restrain incontinence and figure sinners; John 1:1 teaches the Son's consubstantial and eternal begetting; rulers must govern in piety and justice; an untitled protest against a peace sworn with pagan oaths; the pastor's art of varied remedies; Christ freed us from fear of death by teaching judgment and resurrection; Hebrews' rest is heavenly; flattery of the wicked shares their guilt.
1078. 4.149Three letters: God's one word holds two meanings, as the sentences on Adam and Nineveh implied resurrection and mercy; Paul preached only Christ crucified because the cross itself defeated the gods; the God who dwells on high sees and governs the lowliest things.
1079. 4.152The long-suffering man is wise because his greatness of soul masters anger, while the small-souled are tossed by every passion.
1080. 4.153Five letters: the stars are impure only by comparison with their Maker; Isaiah calls for righteousness because Christ has disarmed the devil; perpetual learners who never learn are rebuked; Christ drank the cup of wrath and turned it to joy; the law against touching the dead forbids fellowship with sinners, not contact with corpses.
1081. 4.158The righteous man's seven falls are those of a wrestler, which can lead to victory; what matters is rising again quickly.
1082. 4.159Christ's command to let our light shine does not contradict his warning against public almsgiving: good works cannot be hidden, but must not be done for show.
1083. 4.160God's replacing a heart of stone with a heart of flesh means turning a callous soul into a teachable one, as teachers train pupils without changing their nature.
1084. 4.161The wicked man "stands by" evil as its advocate and is "blessed" only by flatterers in this life, before being shut in darkness after death.
1085. 4.162The command to eat the Passover "in haste" means that those who share the true Passover must be earnest in virtue.
1086. 4.163Against Origen's teaching that souls fell from a prior existence: Scripture does not teach it, souls remember nothing of it, the body does not work as a punishment, and Scripture speaks against it; both sides agree that virtue is what matters.
1087. 4.164The devil misapplied the psalm on angelic protection, which promises help to the righteous in danger, not to those who tempt God; Christ answered with Scripture.
1088. 4.165Two letters: virginity is given not by lot but to those who seek divine help and discipline themselves; the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ essentially, so his lowly words fit God made man, while his divine words could not fit a mere man.
1089. 4.167Two letters: God showed captive Hebrew boys to be supremely wise before the proud Babylonians; grace gives new life in baptism, so the baptized who sin and do not repent face worse punishment than law-breakers under Moses.
1090. 4.169Two letters: peacemakers, who first make peace within themselves, share the Son's title because he made peace between all things; the law's sacrifices forgave only lesser sins, and its death penalty was to be executed by the guiltless.
1091. 4.171Two letters: even what is in our power needs God's help, which comes to those who do their part; stories of the saints' deeds heal souls and should be told often.
1092. 4.173The righteous man praises and rebukes with sound judgment, unlike flatterers and slanderers, who sink to the level of beasts.
1093. 4.174Two letters: true wisdom is right belief in God joined with avoidance of evil, not eloquence; yielding to those who strike and wrong us is the victory that wins the heavenly prize.
1094. 4.175Moses began his law with creation and with the rewards and punishments of history so as to ground worship of the Creator and move his people to piety.
1095. 4.177A teacher is responsible for teaching and living well, not for whether his hearers are persuaded, as the parable of the talents shows.
1096. 4.178Abraham's readiness to sacrifice Isaac was a victory over nature itself, proclaimed by God before the angels, which should spur us to dedicate ourselves wholly.
1097. 4.179When insulted, Christians should look to Christ, who as King suffered far worse outrages, including betrayal by a disciple.
1098. 4.180Christ rebuked the mourning women because he went to the cross willingly as a victor; his words foretold their coming sorrows rather than cursing them.
1099. 4.181Two letters: the saying about dogs and swine forbids casting the divine word, the priesthood, the mysteries, or baptism before the unworthy; the different Psalm titles distinguish composer, singer, and subject.
1100. 4.182When God acts, one should not ask how, since nothing is beyond his power.
1101. 4.184Joab's scheming to escape punishment through Adonijah only brought it on him, a warning to the addressees that no cunning escapes justice.
1102. 4.185Forgiving others costs nothing yet benefits us as much as almsgiving, and our own forgiveness depends on it.
1103. 4.186As order implies an orderer, the world's order reveals the invisible Creator to the mind.
1104. 4.187Christians who sin after receiving Christ's grace are worse than the ancients, who cultivated their natural virtue better.
1105. 4.188Isidore rebukes the archdeacon Lucius for enriching himself by selling ordinations, warning him of Christ's expulsion of the dove-sellers.
1106. 4.189Three letters: Christ's grace transforms sinners whom the law excluded; the highest blessing belongs to those falsely reviled for Christ; the most wretched man is one who loves his vice and pities those freed from it.
1107. 4.190Marriage is honourable and useful when it aims at children, but it should not be ranked with virginity, which makes human beings like the angels.
1108. 4.191Five letters: the widow's two lepta surpassed the gifts of kings because God judges intention; the myth of a musician-god who could not win a chaste girl refutes pagan claims for music and astrology; life is an arena against the passions; Christ's answer when struck teaches how to bear insult; the people should not serve the Cappadocian's schemes.
1109. 4.197Two letters: the Persian education and oath to truth and virtue shame those who will not read Scripture; in the age to come the incorruptible body will bear punishments both intense and unending.
1110. 4.200Moses required soldiers to be purified because even lawful killing in war is not wholly guiltless, given the kinship of all humankind.
1111. 4.201The body will rise and be crowned with the soul because it shared the soul's struggles.
1112. 4.202Two letters: the incarnate Word made all people taught by God; prophecy mixes present and future, as Psalm 72 speaks partly of Solomon and mostly of Christ, so interpreters must keep both the historical and the spiritual sense without forcing either.
1113. 4.204Since Adam's fall weighed down the body and Christ lightened it through baptism and the Spirit, the gospel sets higher and obligatory standards than the law, with heaven as reward instead of long life in the land.
1114. 4.205Isidore defends himself against blame for failing to reform Bishop Eusebius and the clergy of Pelusium: a counsellor is judged by his intention, since hearers are free, as Christ with Judas, the prophets, and the greatest orators and philosophers show.
1115. 4.206The words about Artemis in Acts are the Ephesian clerk's, not Scripture's teaching, and need no interpretation.
1116. 4.207Pagan images were said to have fallen from heaven because their makers were exiled or killed, as in a story of Ptolemy's treatment of the sculptors of an Artemis statue.
1117. 4.208Contempt for hearing Scripture is the devil's trick to keep us from its riches and from the action it produces.
1118. 4.209The same God gave both covenants: the law limited retaliation, but since retaliation bred endless strife, the Gospel forbids resisting evil and so cuts violence off at its root.
1119. 4.210Virtue lies in the mean between vices, the "royal road" from which Scripture forbids turning aside.
1120. 4.211God's glory, and still more his essence, surpasses the understanding of humans and angels alike, as Habakkuk's song implies.
1121. 4.212Those who preach virtue must practise it, as Isaiah's "Learn to do good" requires.
1122. 4.213Israel's breaking of the commandments toward neighbours, which all know to be wrong, shows that their breaking of the commandments toward God was also wilful.
1123. 4.214Sirach warns against seeking to be a judge because justice is hard to find and easily betrayed through passion or bribery.
1124. 4.215Christ's burning lamps are the inner word that lights our souls and the spoken word that lights others, both fed by virtue.
1125. 4.216Christ's call to exceed the scribes' righteousness refers to the righteousness they ought to have had, so it does not contradict his woes against them.
1126. 4.217The witnesses against Jesus testified falsely because he had said "You destroy, and I will raise," speaking of his body, not that he himself would destroy the temple.
1127. 4.218Christ's promise of words to the martyrs before tribunals does not cancel the duty to prepare for teaching and defending the faith among friends.
1128. 4.219Paul's "if anyone aspires to the episcopate" neither urges nor forbids, but warns of a burdensome ministry under God's choice; Palladius, unable to rule himself, should not covet it.
1129. 4.220Paul's "if possible" admits that peace cannot be kept with the wicked where virtue is at stake; the Christian must only give no just cause for enmity.
1130. 4.221Two letters: Alypius should drink from the everflowing springs of Scripture; God's naming himself by the patriarchs and saving Jerusalem for David's sake shows that virtue is remembered by God after death.
1131. 4.223Anger is the sudden outburst of passion, wrath its lasting and vengeful persistence.
1132. 4.224Isidore rebukes Heraclius for ignoring the famous writings of John, whose teaching, like a divine Orpheus, tamed beastly men, so that wolves and lambs feed together.
1133. 4.225Isidore quotes Josephus's testimony to Jesus as evidence from a Jewish witness against the unbelief of the Jews.
1134. 4.226Right doctrine must be matched by right living, or opponents will discredit the faith through the lives of believers.
1135. 4.227Christ's warning about almsgiving concerns the intention to be seen, not the unavoidable fact that good deeds become known.
1136. 4.228Sirach compares Wisdom to many trees, taking from each only the feature that fits, because an example is a likeness, not an identity.
1137. 4.229Isidore warns Zosimus that the incarnation, which made both men and demons respect human nature, should teach him self-control before the judgment.
1138. 4.230Sennacherib's boast against Hezekiah ended in the loss of his army and his murder by his sons, showing his weakness and God's justice.
1139. 5.1Anger, like an excess of one element in the body, makes a person both arrogant and servile; Christian philosophy unites humility with a loftiness that flatters no one.
1140. 5.2Isidore urges three bishops at least to pray for the incorrigible clergy Zosimus, Eustathius and Maron, since only God can rescue them.
1141. 5.3Since every worldly good passes like smoke, it is foolish to take pride in any of them.
1142. 5.4A teacher whose life deserves punishment cannot persuade anyone that the kingdom of heaven exists.
1143. 5.5Martyrs are not defeated by death any more than a soldier who dies fighting; the goal of their contest is to keep virtue's glory intact.
1144. 5.6Isidore shames a deacon who plans to buy a bishopric by the example of Pittacus, who gave back a rule he had won by his own blood.
1145. 5.7Equity should be more humane than strict justice; a second letter says that one caught in sin must recognize it quickly, since not knowing it is incurable.
1146. 5.9Parents who teach their children God and virtue will be rewarded; a second letter laments that quarrels in the church are worse than civil wars; a third urges two men to flee vice and pursue virtue.
1147. 5.12Isidore urges the aged presbyter Zosimus either to give up his lechery or to withdraw from the altar; a second letter laments that he has insulted a wise man sent to correct him.
1148. 5.14Anger starts wars that do not end when it cools, so one should fight only for piety and virtue, and for these to the point of blood.
1149. 5.15True magnanimity leans to gentleness; a second letter assures Peter that God will not let virtue be defeated under Eusebius's tyranny; a third (continued in the next passage) warns that small sins grow into great ones.
1150. 5.16The end of a letter warning that small sins lead to great ones, with Demosthenes as witness, followed by two letters: people judge others by themselves, and those who have often fallen can still win against their passions.
1151. 5.20Whether advice succeeds depends on the hearer's free will, as Christ's failure to cure Judas's avarice shows; the blame belongs to the one who will not listen.
1152. 5.21The churches are in turmoil because lovers of money rather than lovers of virtue are now made priests, turning the office into tyranny; the good clergy are at fault only for their silence.
1153. 5.22Isidore urges a presbyter to forgive an offender even without an apology, so that the offender will be shamed into self-correction.
1154. 5.23Isidore asks a bishop to excuse those whose praises fall short of his merits, since they attempt the impossible out of goodwill.
1155. 5.24Zosimus's mistreatment of his own brother shows that his earlier revenge was not for the brother's sake; a second letter says a wife's adornment is not purple and jewels but the beauty of a virtuous soul.
1156. 5.26Goodwill toward virtue wins God's help; a second letter argues that those who long for heavenly glory should labour harder than seekers of worldly fame.
1157. 5.28Isidore consoles Didymus on his brother's death, attacks the buyers of church office, warns of the devil's hidden snares, argues from Scripture that the Son is not a creature, sums up ethics in the Golden Rule, and condemns those who worship creation; a second letter rebukes three clerics for luxury and lechery.
1158. 5.29Isidore declines to praise three bishops, since their virtue surpasses anything words could say.
1159. 5.31Isidore refuses to answer a deacon's questions about Scripture because he asks for glory, not knowledge.
1160. 5.32Isidore praises John Chrysostom's homilies on Romans as the interpretation Paul himself would have given.
1161. 5.33Isidore recalls a holy teacher whose very look inspired love of divine wisdom.
1162. 5.34Isidore laments that four clerics have united only to revile a gentle and helpful man, and urges them to come to their senses.
1163. 5.35Isidore tells a man who affects the look of virtue to practise virtue itself, whose root is bitter but its fruit sweet.
1164. 5.36Like the three youths who refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar's image, Christians should refuse to worship wealth, even at the cost of the furnace of poverty.
1165. 5.37The bad lives of some clergy give no excuse to the laity, who will be judged by the commandments and by the many good clergy they ignored.
1166. 5.38People who will not even listen to teaching about virtue will never labour for it; Isidore urges a bishop to keep them reading Scripture.
1167. 5.39God lets some who think themselves strong be tempted so that their pride may be humbled by their failure.
1168. 5.40Isidore advises the prefect Taurus to share his office with honest friends; a second letter says one who does not believe in the kingdom cannot love it; a third counsels testing an accusation before demanding punishment.
1169. 5.43In this life extreme punishment cannot last, but in the next, incorruptible bodies will endure extreme torments without being destroyed.
1170. 5.44As many who prize health neglect it, many who praise virtue avoid the road to it.
1171. 5.45Wine in moderation gladdens but abused it punishes; a second letter says the eyes too must be kept virgin; a third consoles a deacon distressed at being thought unfortunate, since the best of every people have suffered as he does.
1172. 5.48Isidore commends a sophist for answering his clerical tormentors with satire rather than a lawsuit, but urges him to go further and keep his tongue free of abuse.
1173. 5.49Isidore tells a deacon how he defended him in a lawsuit; a second letter contrasts trust in God with trust in man; a third mocks those who serve the devil and then wonder why order has perished.
1174. 5.52Isidore declines to forward Harpocras's satirical lament on four clerics, lest it start a war, and leaves the risk to him.
1175. 5.53Isidore tells four clerics that a learned man's lament on them has made everyone recoil from them, and urges them, late as it is, to admit their wickedness.
1176. 5.54A good life refutes slander and punishes one's enemies; a second letter tells a cleric to rein in unruly charges and to warn the avaricious that greed is insatiable here and leads to unquenchable fire hereafter.
1177. 5.56The truly blessed is not one who suffers little but one who bears much nobly; a second letter tells Zosimus he can silence his accusers only by mending his ways.
1178. 5.58Hope in God lightens present labours and leads to crowns hereafter, so it should be our constant companion.
1179. 5.59Zosimus's arrogance is no surprise, since sudden good fortune makes fools insolent.
1180. 5.60Those who do nothing cannot expect to beat those who do everything needed to win.
1181. 5.61Difficult texts must be explained by argument and proof, not by bare assertion.
1182. 5.62Flatterers should be avoided even more than insulters, since flattery does more harm.
1183. 5.63Office depends on subjects for its honour, but virtue's glory is one's own and cannot be taken away.
1184. 5.64Moderate food and plain clothes make the body a good servant of the soul; luxury makes it the soul's enemy.
1185. 5.65Christ forbade the lustful look because it is far easier not to look than to heal the wound afterwards; the one who does not look stays pure without a struggle.
1186. 5.66Success is not always good for us; we should ask God, who alone knows what is profitable, and accept what he gives.
1187. 5.67Greed, like endless thirst, can never be satisfied; needing little makes one free, joyful and safe from injury.
1188. 5.68As the furnace burned only the bonds of the three youths, temptations free many from the bonds of sin.
1189. 5.69Hope should rest on one's own virtue, not on others' failures; a second letter says that needing little puts one beyond the reach of injury.
1190. 5.71The best men, like Job, act well in every change of fortune; a second letter says all earthly happiness is not a fraction of the good things to come; a third commends the maxim "Nothing in excess" with Plato's reason for it.
1191. 5.74A sinner who knows his sin is better than one who does not, since he can repent; the other must first be made aware of it.
1192. 5.75Isidore rebukes an ungrateful deacon, warning that those who forget favours will find no help when they need it again.
1193. 5.76True courage is moderation in prosperity and firmness in adversity; a second letter tells three clerics their crimes outrun any orator's words; a third assures a deacon that unrewarded virtue receives a greater reward hereafter.
1194. 5.79Isidore asks Cyril of Alexandria to stop the greed of those who manage the funds of the church of Pelusium, so that the poor may be fed.
1195. 5.80One who states an objection forcefully but answers it weakly betrays the truth he means to defend.
1196. 5.81Zosimus is warned of the coming judgment; a second letter says one who has done all he can to persuade deserves praise even if he fails, since reward follows labour, not outcome.
1197. 5.83The best host offers sufficient food together with edifying conversation that feeds the soul.
1198. 5.84Though many have given them up, Isidore again urges four clerics to rekindle any spark of reason and turn to virtue.
1199. 5.85Even robbers are tamed by sharing salt, yet Christians who share the divine table wage unending war on one another.
1200. 5.86Isidore warns a man not to take revenge on the children of an enemy now dead, which would show both cowardice and resentment.
1201. 5.87God's patience should lead to repentance, not to presumption; he warns before he punishes, so those who persist bring the punishment on themselves.
1202. 5.88Reason must steer the soul like a helmsman, or the passions will wreck it.
1203. 5.89Isidore tells a presbyter not to be scandalized by luxurious bishops, since a few still live apostolically; further letters warn against listening to slanderers, explain that Hebrews 4 speaks of the heavenly rest, not Joshua's conquest, and boldly exhort a man to stop harming himself and attacking the virtuous.
1204. 5.93Isidore urges a deacon who has given up study for luxury to return to his former discipline; a second letter warns that quick successes often lay a trap.
1205. 5.95Virtue, like fire, naturally rises; vice, like a heavy body, falls ever faster.
1206. 5.96Trials either heal us of sin or win us crowns, as Paul and the Lord's word to Job show, so they should be borne with good hope.
1207. 5.97Isidore urges a lawyer to put truth above contentious sophistry.
1208. 5.98Isidore tells a farmer to take pride in farming, the necessary mother of all the arts.
1209. 5.99Chastity in youth deserves praise, but in old age it is mere incapacity, so one should not put off self-control until then.
1210. 5.100Past trials should be borne nobly since they lose their force; a second letter says unbelievers belittle faith, though it is easy to know, secure to hold and invincible in the end.
1211. 5.102Isidore praises a sophist's frankness, which the base resent because it exposes them.
1212. 5.103Since Zosimus and Maron reject rebuke, counsel and lament alike, Isidore asks a presbyter to pray for them, since only God can heal them.
1213. 5.104Isidore urges a presbyter to settle a lawsuit by kindness rather than risk a verdict, since kindness is more glorious than victory.
1214. 5.105Isidore prays that four clerics may turn from wickedness and at least stop scandalizing others; a further letter tells Count Herminus not to let office shake his philosophy, since virtue alone is a robe that never wears out.
1215. 5.106Isidore urges Herminus to care for eternal things rather than for what soon passes away.
1216. 5.107People neglect what matters and pursue trifles; a second letter says one should grieve only at suffering unjustly, not at just suffering.
1217. 5.109Isidore urges Philetrius to imitate those who shine like lights and guide others to virtue, not those who darken them.
1218. 5.110Isidore distinguishes the wise, the good and those who are both; a second letter explains the Greek word for pardon as "knowing with" the one who knows himself; a third urges storing wealth in heaven by almsgiving, where nothing can destroy it.
1219. 5.113Give willingly now what you will otherwise leave unwillingly to others, sending it ahead into eternity.
1220. 5.114Isidore tells Theophilus that learned men despise him for travelling in old age to make money; a second letter asks whether fame belongs to the prosperous idle or the virtuous poor.
1221. 5.116Isidore agrees that Zosimus's ordination was scandalous but tells a presbyter not to defile his mouth by abusing him; a second letter argues that fate refutes itself if it inspires both its defenders and its opponents.
1222. 5.118Isidore laments that a deacon has outdone even his own earlier crimes and urges him to repair his reputation.
1223. 5.119A sharp tongue should be turned against error and injustice, not against friends; a second letter warns that unrepented sin brings punishment, as the flood and Sodom show; a third praises brief, pointed speech.
1224. 5.122Isidore tells four clerics that they are worse than other sinners because they boast of their deeds and mock those who live well and advise them.
1225. 5.123One should acquire only what will be needed after death.
1226. 5.124A habitual slanderer should be checked by a stern threat before he needs punishment.
1227. 5.125Isidore asks Harpocras to write often; further letters say the church's teachers must first reform their own lives before they can save others, that human nature calls for modesty, and that the "spiritual" accept by faith in God's power things beyond reason, such as the three youths in the furnace.
1228. 5.129Even suspicion is a great misfortune for those of high virtue.
1229. 5.130God mixed promises with threats for Israel, so the prophets foretold the return from Babylon as well as the exile, since threats alone breed despair.
1230. 5.131In a long letter Isidore laments that church leaders persecute the virtuous and reward the wicked, says that he himself has suffered for speaking frankly, and calls them to humility, honesty and repentance; a second letter refuses to answer a question until the questioner lays aside his hostility.
1231. 5.133A letter's style should be moderately adorned, neither bare nor luxurious.
1232. 5.134A victory won by anger or greed is worse than defeat, bringing brief pleasure and lasting shame.
1233. 5.135Not knowing that we are sick is the worst sickness of the soul; a second letter says wickedness breeds punishment and goodness reward, and God's patience is not neglect, since judgment will come.
1234. 5.137Doing good to friends is good, to all better, and to enemies best; a second letter explains that Christ's blessing on the reviled requires both that it be for his sake and that the charges be false.
1235. 5.139The lustful look already defiles the soul, as Christ's word on adultery in the heart shows; a second letter says Eusebius is to be blamed not for his looks or speech but for his vicious character.
1236. 5.141Isidore warns a man against plunging into public affairs; a second letter says avarice is cured only by giving up apparent gain, which is real loss.
1237. 5.143Isidore warns against friendships built on common hatred, which can strengthen a later enemy.
1238. 5.144Victories over passion must not breed complacency, since the devil and the flesh attack again, as John and Paul warn; those with a treasure of virtue must watch most of all.
1239. 5.145Isidore lists the virtues of good speech; further letters say the eyes must be kept modest like maidens, that Bishop Eusebius is gravely guilty if he knowingly ordained wolves over Christ's flock, and that appetite should be fed with necessities, not luxury.
1240. 5.149Isidore warns a lawyer, with Plato, that seeming just without being just is the height of wickedness; further letters warn a man not to relapse after punishment, and not to presume on others' impunity, since penalties come here or hereafter.
1241. 5.152Isidore consoles a curial who failed to win civic honour: earthly glory is worthless, and whoever seeks heavenly glory often gains the earthly too.
1242. 5.153Being blamed by the envious for one's virtues is itself the greatest proof of virtue.
1243. 5.154Isidore urges a deacon to make peace with an adversary, taking the first step if needed.
1244. 5.155Isidore says that one becomes righteous by ceasing to sin; a second letter describes a man who feigned grief while rejoicing at another's misfortune; a third advises burying the dead where they died rather than moving bodies from city to city.
1245. 5.158Happiness lies in having enough, not in luxury, which enslaves the soul.
1246. 5.159Approving sin is worse than committing it, as Paul says in Rom 1:32; Isidore rejects a reworded text of the verse that makes doing worse than approving.
1247. 5.160A bishop who does what he is appointed to punish will pay a greater penalty, since God sees all.
1248. 5.161Isidore prefers virtue unknown to fame; a second letter ranks speech, virtue and faith as adornment, body and soul, all three needed together; a third tells the sons of Dometius that their Christian brother will keep returning to win them for life.
1249. 5.164Isidore tells pagans who shun Christianity only to avoid virtue that pleasure is fleeting and virtue lasting, citing Plato, Socrates, Solon, Epaminondas and Aristides, whose poverty won more glory than tyrants' and kings' wealth.
1250. 5.165Isidore encourages a bishop whose efforts to correct Zosimus brought only mockery; a second letter says that the tortures devised against the preachers of the gospel only made their victory more glorious.
1251. 5.167A victory without defeat is best, but recovering from defeat is far better than remaining defeated.
1252. 5.168A ruler must combine goodness, to encourage the good, with fear, to restrain the wicked.
1253. 5.169Isidore counsels a bishop said to prefer flatterers: virtue shines most when it is not displayed, as the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows, and slow, safe success is better than quick, costly success.
1254. 5.170Isidore urges three bishops to carry out what they have decided, since they have the power to do so and will be blameless only if they do.
1255. 5.171A man who cares for others wins many friends; a second letter tells a pagan that one must not look at what one may come to love, citing Xenophon's Cyrus, who refused to see Panthea, and Araspas, who boasted and fell.
1256. 5.174Isidore praises three brothers, a monk and his elders, for virtue growing with age; further letters warn a money-lover of the coming penalty, and say that a man who cannot master his own passions cannot correct others.
1257. 5.175Isidore agrees that clergy who preach forbearance but punish their critics give Greeks and Jews cause to mock the faith; a second letter says that one who sins openly will sin in secret, while one who guards against small sins guards against great ones.
1258. 5.179The soul's resurrection from sin happens now by repentance, as with the prodigal son; the body's resurrection will come hereafter, alike for all in immortality but differing in glory according to deeds.
1259. 5.180Anger must be checked by gentle persuasion, since unchecked it ends in murder.
1260. 5.181Avarice, like fire, is quenched not by adding fuel but by almsgiving.
1261. 5.182A judge must be above bribery, since gifts blind even the wise; a second letter mocks those who see contradictions in arguments but not between their teaching on poverty and their own greed.
1262. 5.184Isidore tells a deacon who sees only evil to cleanse his mind, the eye of the soul, so that he can discern the good.
1263. 5.185Isidore supports a sophist in keeping his pupils from the theatre and the hippodrome, arguing that such shows corrupt every virtue, were introduced only to divert the idle populace from sedition, and are unfit for young men being trained in virtue.
1264. 5.186In a long exhortation to pagan youths, Isidore argues that virtue is the only lasting good, better than wealth, which is often a servant of vice; true prosperity is sufficiency; virtue should be begun in youth and the shows avoided, since a judgment awaits all and Christ's light will lead the virtuous to the kingdom.
1265. 5.187The soul is divine and immortal but created, not a part of God's essence, since it sins and is judged.
1266. 5.188Each virtue is a mean flanked by two vices, as piety lies between impiety and superstition and courage between rashness and cowardice.
1267. 5.189Isidore tells a man known for anger and pride to rein in his temper.
1268. 5.190Isidore encourages a man to keep writing conciliatory letters to a defeated opponent who is still unreconciled.
1269. 5.191Using rock, water, air, the soul and the power of medicines as examples, Isidore shows a physician that incorporeal things are stronger and less subject to change than bodies.
1270. 5.192Isidore reports that a man called Gothus received a bishop's admonitory letter with a smile that conquered his anger.
1271. 5.193Those who seek revenge here often suffer worse; it is better to answer injury with quiet, since justice will be done hereafter.
1272. 5.194Isidore tells a deacon accused of luxury to reform rather than defend himself; a second letter tells a wrongdoer to stop hiding behind legal technicalities.
1273. 5.196Isidore tells a bishop who denounces Eusebius of Pelusium's vices to keep himself free of the same faults.
1274. 5.197Isidore argues that the Old Testament calls Israel God's sons only in reproach, while the New Testament gives Christians the pure dignity of adoption, as John, Jesus and Paul show, a dignity they must guard.
1275. 5.198Isidore praises a sophist's vivid portrait of a man in words, like a painter's lifelike horse.
1276. 5.199An unnamed man received Harpocras's letter with an angry grin and attempted a dreadful deed, prevented only because church discipline caught him first.
1277. 5.200Isidore praises Sparta's ban on adornment for chaste women and cites Scripture's call to be adorned with good works; jewels expose the plain and distract from the beautiful.
1278. 5.201Though hearers now want entertaining rhetoric rather than edifying words, it is better to preach unheeded than to bury the talent and be condemned.
1279. 5.202Isidore urges a man to leave speculative philosophy for practical virtue, citing Xenophon's account of Socrates, who held speculation about the heavens to be folly.
1280. 5.203Isidore distinguishes "thoughtless" (an unconsidered act) from "unwilled" (an involuntary suffering).
1281. 5.204Isidore urges that a dispute be settled by orderly judgment and end in friendship.
1282. 5.205Isidore plays on Philetrius's name to say his letters have wounded him with friendship.
1283. 5.206Isidore urges a father to stop ignoring the quarrel between his sons and reconcile them.
1284. 5.207Enmity makes abuse credible, friendship repels it.
1285. 5.208Isidore rejoices at a man's conversion and promises him renown here and a crown hereafter.
1286. 5.209Isidore refuses to condemn a man unheard; a second letter rebukes the presbyter Zosimus for embezzling alms meant for the poor, warning that he faces a worse fate than those who merely refuse to give.
1287. 5.211Isidore commends a devout traveller to a presbyter's guidance.
1288. 5.212Isidore asks a governor to stop a vexatious lawsuit against a quiet farmer.
1289. 5.213Isidore reports to Zosimus a good man's scathing remark that he prays for a spotless life while defiling the church, and urges him to amend.
1290. 5.214Isidore advises a presbyter to speak only of worthwhile things, lest he be thought a babbler.
1291. 5.215The scandal of an unworthy priest like Zosimus should strengthen faith in the judgment, since God, being just, will repay each hereafter.
1292. 5.216Isidore announces a visit to a monastery to see a monk and his friend Theodosius.
1293. 5.217A good critic must weigh each writer's virtues and faults impartially, since styles differ widely.
1294. 5.218Virginity rises above the law and sexual immorality falls below it; honourable marriage lies between, far above immorality though below virginity.
1295. 5.219Isidore answers a deacon who blamed him for failing to reform four clerics: the adviser is responsible only for advising well, as even Christ did not persuade Judas or the Jews, and he is proud to share in Christ's sufferings.
1296. 5.220God's patience with Zosimus and Maron is not neglect, since like the flood generation, Sodom and those who rejected Christ, they will be punished here or hereafter.
1297. 5.221Lesser sins are purged by suffering in this life, as Paul says of unworthy communicants and as the rich man and Lazarus show; grave sins are punished both here and hereafter, as with Sodom and with Jerusalem in its siege.
1298. 5.222Rewards and punishments received in this life are counted at the judgment: the righteous who suffered here will receive more, and the wicked who prospered here will be punished more.
1299. 5.223Isidore would rather suffer for virtue than be crowned for vice, since virtue is itself a crown and vice itself a punishment.
1300. 5.224Since avarice is almost incurable, one must take every care never to fall into it.
1301. 5.225No one should seek to rule who has not first learned to be ruled; one should decline office if possible and, if compelled, govern under the law.
1302. 5.226Isidore urges a deacon to seek God's help rather than men's, explaining that Christ's command to pray not to "enter" temptation means not to be overcome by it, since falling into trials is unavoidable.
1303. 5.227Christians should be gentle when they themselves are wronged but zealous when God is dishonoured, as Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist and Paul were.
1304. 5.228Isidore urges a governor to use the law to stop those who exploit the weak.
1305. 5.229Virtue itself is God's gift, and he crowns it with the further gift of the kingdom.
1306. 5.230God's patience with Bishop Eusebius and his partisans is meant to lead them to repentance; one should pray for them rather than complain.
1307. 5.231Isidore reminds the aged Zosimus that death is near and asks why he still sins like a youth.
1308. 5.232Not retaliating is divine, moderate retaliation human, but excessive retaliation makes one as guilty as the original aggressor.
1309. 5.233Words without deeds annoy, deeds without words shame; together they bring great progress to learners.
1310. 5.234Self-love makes us harsh judges of others' sins and blind to our own, while magnifying our good deeds and belittling theirs.
1311. 5.235Isidore tells a deacon he is blind to his true interest and should take the judgement of wise men.
1312. 5.236Bad company corrupts by habit, which becomes second nature, as a drop of water hollows a stone.
1313. 5.237Sufficiency brings bodily health; luxury arms the body against the soul and breeds disease.
1314. 5.238The saying that everyone is reviled whatever his life is meant not to discourage virtue but to teach the virtuous to bear slander, since it is better to be reviled unjustly than justly.
1315. 5.239Heresies spring from love of office or from prejudice that refuses to be taught.
1316. 5.240Right doctrine and virtuous life need each other, like a choir and its leader.
1317. 5.241Isidore defends the Mosaic law's purity rules: if it called involuntary emissions defiling, it forbade voluntary acts all the more, and it banned sexual immorality as well as adultery, as Paul also does.
1318. 5.242One should avoid even the appearance of evil, but not be grieved if the envious slander one anyway, since they do it to hide their own faults.
1319. 5.243The lazy find even easy things hard, while the brave welcome hard tasks for the greater glory.
1320. 5.244Life is a passing stage-show, as comedy itself says; good and ill here end soon, but hereafter both are eternal.
1321. 5.245Isidore corrects a grammarian: "elder" and "younger" are used of two, "eldest" and "youngest" of the extremes among many.
1322. 5.246Isidore rebukes Zosimus for slandering the dead whom he flattered in life.
1323. 5.247Since licentiousness leads to punishment and purity to holiness, Isidore asks a deacon why he pursues the one and flees the other.
1324. 5.248We restrain our anger toward the powerful out of fear of men but are angry at the weak without cause, though fear of God should restrain us far more.
1325. 5.249As a sick head makes the whole body sick, the church of Pelusium is full of evils because its bishop Eusebius is corrupt.
1326. 5.250As lawgivers are not blamed when people break their laws, so those who exhorted Eusebius and his clergy are not to blame if they refuse to be cured.
1327. 5.251One should be humble with the gentle and firm with the arrogant, since different souls need different remedies.
1328. 5.252Isidore keeps alive the memory of a dead friend whom his correspondent seems to have forgotten.
1329. 5.253Virginity merits heaven, marriage honour and sexual immorality punishment, with adultery and unnatural sins worse still; but sincere repentance can heal them all.
1330. 5.254Since suffering is unavoidable, it is better to suffer unjustly, which earns a crown, than justly, which only pays for sin.
1331. 5.255Some ancients turned tyranny into fatherly rule, but some present clergy turn pastoral care into tyranny.
1332. 5.256Fools hate those better than themselves out of envy of their virtue.
1333. 5.257Isidore tells Zosimus not to trust the approval of fellow sinners but the judgement of the sound and of Scripture.
1334. 5.258Isidore reports that a showy orator stayed to learn philosophy; a second letter tells a deacon to rely on God's help rather than on human friends.
1335. 5.260God's patience is a call to repentance, not licence; if ignored, he will punish all sins together.
1336. 5.261Sins that scandalize others are punished more than greater secret sins, as Moses was barred from the promised land not for his earlier objections but for dishonouring God publicly at the water.
1337. 5.262A man who came to show off his learning went away humbled himself.
1338. 5.263A good teacher shows reverence in his look and uses a moderate style; even plain diction rouses learners when the example is reverent.
1339. 5.264Isidore tells a man of affairs not to despise those who seek quiet; the truly practical life is the practice of the virtues, not worldly cleverness.
1340. 5.265A teacher persuades by deeds; words without deeds bring only disbelief and ridicule.
1341. 5.266Time is marked by days, months, years and consulships so that we may use it well and fill it with good deeds, since once past it cannot be recovered.
1342. 5.267Wickedness that will not accept correction can be stopped only by punishment.
1343. 5.268Isidore tells Cyril that the priesthood once corrected emperors but now is subject to them, because unworthy priests disgrace it; the emperors rightly punish such priests to vindicate the priesthood.
1344. 5.269Those punished here for their sins are being healed; it is those who sin unpunished who should be lamented.
1345. 5.270Not all suffering is punishment; some tests the righteous, as with Job, David and Paul, whom fools wrongly judged guilty because they suffered.
1346. 5.271Wealth, rank and intelligence are worthless without hope in God, who confounds the wise; we must cling to that anchor.
1347. 5.272Isidore agrees that wicked clergy threaten to obscure Christ's work by giving unbelievers cause to blaspheme.
1348. 5.273Those who praise heaven in word but act unworthily are to be lamented, not imitated.
1349. 5.274Isidore asks two men either to disprove the charges against them or admit them, on pain of losing his friendship.
1350. 5.275One who cannot govern his own passions is ridiculous trying to govern others.
1351. 5.276Isidore condemns the buying and selling of the priesthood: once hereditary, it is now meant for the virtuous, yet it is more abused than ever, and good men are shut out of it.
1352. 5.277Isidore praises a count for sparing a defeated enemy, as he had predicted.
1353. 5.278Priests are no longer honoured because they no longer live like their predecessors; once priests corrected kings, now they fear the people.
1354. 5.279Isidore advises a bishop to temper discipline with pardon, as a physician suits treatment to the patient's strength.
1355. 5.280Isidore urges a man to answer an enemy's threats with kindness, which may disarm him.
1356. 5.281Scripture's plain words carry heavenly meaning, pagan eloquence the reverse; eloquence is good only as a servant of divine wisdom.
1357. 5.282The sufferings of the righteous should not disturb us, since the king's friends bear the hardest battles, and both the righteous and the wicked are found in prosperity and in punishment.
1358. 5.283Some call frankness shamelessness and shamelessness frankness, just as they call God's patience negligence.
1359. 5.284God gives two gifts, the virtuous act and its reward; the contest is itself a gift.
1360. 5.285It is safer to avoid conflict than to seek allies, who may later draw one into unjust quarrels.
1361. 5.286The young must be admonished, which sets the mind right, not charmed, which leads them by their wishes.
1362. 5.287Isidore argues against suicide: if what God joined in marriage may not be separated, still less may soul and body; even the ancients buried a suicide's hand apart.
1363. 5.288Those who do good for reward rank below those who love the good but above those who act from fear.
1364. 5.289The wise man sees through deceivers' cleverness.
1365. 5.290A teacher must rebuke sin frankly but without violence, as God told Ezekiel, leaving the hearer's response to his free will; Paul's excommunication and Eli's punishment are explained, with an argument that Eli's sentence fell chiefly on his house.
1366. 5.291Christ forbade the lustful look so that beauty might not enslave the mind and make the soul hard to heal.
1367. 5.292Christians should seek the good even of their opponents, in which their own good is included.
1368. 5.293Though Scripture's words can be twisted, the truth always prevails over those who distort it.
1369. 5.294Envy always attends virtue, so a deacon should not be troubled by slander; a second letter answers a pagan that Scripture is not to blame for those who do not live by it.
1370. 5.296People respond differently to pardon and punishment; Isidore advises a bishop to overlook small faults when they are being amended, pardon after reproof when they persist, and meet grave sins with separation and penance until repentance.
1371. 5.297Isidore rebukes a presbyter proud of his rank who is outdone in virtue by laymen; a second letter says virtue does not escape envy, which must be borne nobly.
1372. 5.299Bishops who claim to be Paul's successors admire him but do not imitate his refusal of gain and his labour with his own hands.
1373. 5.300Even Samuel, under the old law, could challenge the people to accuse him of greed and none could, unlike today's clergy.
1374. 5.301Isidore says that Bishop Eusebius, who devours the goods of the poor, is no true steward and has no right to preach; a second letter says the inequalities of this life serve as training, while those hereafter will reflect justice.
1375. 5.303We can never repay God, so we must give him thanks with whatever we have.
1376. 5.304A false reputation prevents a sinner from seeking healing; a second letter says one should grieve only at deserved disgrace, since obscurity is safer than fame.
1377. 5.306Luxury wrecks the soul; Isidore urges sufficiency, steadfast virtue regardless of majority opinion, care to give no scandal, and patience under envious accusation.
1378. 5.307Lost time cannot be recalled, but God's love receives the repentant and heals them even in a short time.
1379. 5.308Those who twist Scripture to their own ends miss God's meaning and lead others into ignorance.
1380. 5.309An exhortation should be long, brief, methodical or plain as each point requires, since only skilled speech can rescue a soul drowned in passion.
1381. 5.310If earthly things change and heavenly things endure, one should act accordingly.
1382. 5.311Isidore reports a respected man's scathing description of four clerics, says he defended them by predicting their repentance, and urges them to make it true.
1383. 5.312Sympathy that does not help when it can is only pretence.
1384. 5.313A judge needs understanding to find justice and courage, integrity and impartiality not to betray it.
1385. 5.314One overcomes temptation not by avoiding it but by bearing it bravely, with courage in adversity and magnanimity in prosperity.
1386. 5.315God's help answers just requests, not those made in pretence or greed.
1387. 5.316Only the heading of a letter to Primus survives in the scan.
1388. 5.317Isidore tells a grammarian who renounced the world not to be surprised at affliction, which Christ foretold; a further letter urges him to teach his pupils self-control and purity as well as letters.
1389. 5.318Contradicting truth is not wisdom; truth is simple, and falsehood remains evil however elegant.
1390. 5.319A woman who adorns herself to attract men is guilty even if none falls; further letters warn that unworthy clergy abuse God's patience, that priests who sin are punished more severely, and that a priest's sin, like a helmsman's, harms all.
1391. 5.323Clergy who live carelessly give their people an excuse for sin, and must give account for both themselves and their flock.
1392. 5.324The judgment before all humanity and the angels will make our shame immense; further letters say God both punishes and rewards with power equal to his will, and that a good man's rebuke of the wicked is not slander but truth.
1393. 5.327As people help the zealous and ignore the idle, so God's help comes to those who choose to do right.
1394. 5.328A lover of virtue must be moderate in everything, food, dress, house and even bearing, not only in one thing.
1395. 5.329The end of the world and of each life is near, so we should care for the immortal soul rather than pamper the body; a second letter advises that a settled false opinion must be undermined gradually before being opposed directly.
1396. 5.331Isidore interprets Socrates' statue of the naked Graces as teaching that favours should be given freely and without self-interest; a second letter condemns those who, needing nothing, always ask favours and never give.
1397. 5.333Benefactors should be thanked for their goodwill even when unable to help, since deeds are judged by intention.
1398. 5.334Education perfects natural talent and improves the less gifted, but cannot make the untalented excellent.
1399. 5.335Christ bids us imitate God and himself so that, aiming at the highest, we may attain what we can, as children copy a master's fine letters.
1400. 5.336Vainglory belongs to a small soul; it is absurd to seek the praise of a crowd whose collective folly only grows with its numbers.
1401. 5.337The lover of glory who earns it by virtue is far better than the vainglorious who claim unearned praise, though the perfect man despises glory altogether.
1402. 5.338Magnanimity does good for its own sake; love of honour does the same deeds only for praise.
1403. 5.339Since God's attributes exceed us, we imitate him in what is natural to us, humility, as Scripture calls us dust, worms and grass and as Christ humbled himself.
1404. 5.340In rebuking shameful conduct one must find a middle way between words too delicate to reach the sinner and words unfit for a decent speaker.
1405. 5.341The envious slander the virtuous; a second letter tells a pagan count not to judge Christianity by its worst clergy but by its best, or by the faith itself.
1406. 5.343Pagans pity the sufferings of the virtuous as tragedies, but Christians, looking to the life to come, count them blessed.
1407. 5.344Isidore admires a sophist's art but sees that his advice to a powerful man is disguised flattery.
1408. 5.345Isidore reports two views on the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven: that they differ in rank, or that they are one kingdom named from its king or from its subjects.
1409. 5.346Isidore warns the relapsed Zosimus that he can still be healed if he stops; a second letter says that folly, being "far from the mind," must be cured by admonition, which "sets the mind."
1410. 5.348A teacher must discipline unruly pupils so as not to discourage the good, and teach above all by his own example.
1411. 5.349Isidore, who blushed at the applause of a sophist's pupils, asks him why he has sent written praise beyond his deserts.
1412. 5.350The beauty of a virtuous soul survives misfortune; further letters recall a contest between two brothers decided in favour of the humbler, and warn a son to obey his father before he uses his legal authority.
1413. 5.353If a son will not respect his father by nature, he should fear the law.
1414. 5.354Intention counts as the deed when power is lacking; a second letter says that those whose virtue goes unsung here will receive their due glory hereafter.
1415. 5.355God permitted Zosimus's priesthood but did not command it; his patience will be followed by just punishment if Zosimus does not repent.
1416. 5.357God permits but does not command the purchase of priesthood, respecting free will; the guilty, not God, are to blame, and they will answer in proportion to their honour.
1417. 5.358Isidore tells Zosimus not to resent Bishop Hermogenes' sharp rebuke, which came from care for him and fear of God's judgment on silence.
1418. 5.359Isidore explains that "the change of the right hand of the Most High" means not that God changes but that he changes and improves others; a second letter praises brevity in speech and writing.
1419. 5.361Isidore warns a friend that he will break off friendship if he does wrong.
1420. 5.362A robber and a martyr may suffer alike, but one is punished and the other crowned.
1421. 5.363One who suffers justly should own his sins, one who suffers unjustly should look to the glory to come; both gain by enduring.
1422. 5.364Isidore praises a monk's good start and urges him to persevere to a still better end.
1423. 5.365God judges words, deeds and thoughts, weighing causes, times and places, so that the same sin committed on a holy day or in a holy place is graver; we should set our own lives in order and leave the weighing to him.
1424. 5.366Virtue brings lasting joy but requires labour; Isidore challenges a man who claims that one immersed in worldly affairs can easily be perfect, citing Acts and Christ's narrow road.
1425. 5.367Christ's victory over the devil is endangered only by Christians' wickedness; God upholds the faith for his name's sake but will punish those who abuse his patience.
1426. 5.368God sees even secret deeds and thoughts, so we must cling to virtue and shun vice.
1427. 5.369The devil makes us postpone good deeds to an uncertain future; we must act now, since time does not wait.
1428. 5.370True victory is keeping virtue and piety, even when one seems to lose.
1429. 5.371Only God both wishes and is able to honour us beyond our deserts; a second letter says the best governor wins the people by virtue, not by bribery.
1430. 5.372Isidore tells four clerics that their misdeeds are too shameful for him to repeat and urges them to stop.
1431. 5.374Virtue is immortal, prosperity fleeting.
1432. 5.375Asking questions persuades better than bare assertion, as Christ did with the parable of the tenants and Paul on women's head-covering; one should argue gently.
1433. 5.376Answers to questions should be plain and drawn from Scripture's clear remedies, not from one's own clever speculations, which only cast enquirers into a sea of questions.
1434. 5.377True justice and temperance are shown when one has the power to do otherwise; a second letter contrasts Bishop Hermogenes, whose virtue matched his office, with Eusebius, who has the office without the virtue.
1435. 5.379Priests who reached ordination through long virtue must not be judged by those who seized it without preparation and then attack the virtuous.
1436. 5.380Mastery comes from devoting oneself to one art; those who dabble in many perfect none.
1437. 5.381Isidore rejoices that a curial's brother, like the officers sent to arrest Christ, has been won over by the truth and now preaches the faith.
1438. 5.382Courage is keeping an even spirit, unbroken in misfortune and unspoiled by sudden prosperity, which is the harder test.
1439. 5.383A governor must himself obey the laws, consult the wise and correct his errors, as an emperor who ordered his own unlawful commands to be ignored; even if he escapes human justice, he cannot escape God's.
1440. 5.384One enslaved by bodily passions is like a charioteer dragged by his own horses; the mind must govern the body.
1441. 5.385Courage is reasoned; strength without reason is rashness.
1442. 5.386Aggressors in war are wicked; moderate self-defence is lawful though not heroic virtue; immoderate retaliation makes the defender an aggressor.
1443. 5.387Thinking one knows prevents learning, as Plato's Socrates shows Alcibiades; we learn only when we admit ignorance and seek teachers.
1444. 5.388Isidore mourns his devoted disciple Timothy and is consoled that he died gloriously and has been crowned by God.
1445. 5.389Isidore's anger at three clerics has proved justified as their excesses have grown; only lament and prayer remain.
1446. 5.390Refusing a fair reward in hope of a greater one brings ridicule; a second letter explains why overwhelming grief leaves no tears: the blow is unforeseen.
1447. 5.392The envious praise unworthy men to belittle the virtuous; the virtuous should see through this, pardon the ignorant and pity the envious.
1448. 5.393Isidore reproaches Zosimus for buying the priesthood and persisting in sin in old age.
1449. 5.394The wisest and bravest man reads hidden things well and steadies others in danger by word and example.
1450. 5.395The true ruler first rules himself; a second letter says death, which none escapes, begins punishment for some and crowns for others, whose pure bodies will rise to live with their souls.
1451. 5.397One should shun the wicked and seek the good; in a second, candid letter Isidore admits he has not yet learned to thank and pray from the heart for persistent enemies, and warns against disbelieving, pretending, or explaining away commands one has not fulfilled.
1452. 5.399Time cannot be recovered once lost, so it must be used while at hand.
1453. 5.400Some pastors behave like wolves, devouring their flocks' souls; a second letter says it is better to lose with truth than win by a lie.
1454. 5.401Isidore tells four clerics that wickedness is worse than punishment and that the punishments owed to licentiousness will certainly come.
1455. 5.402Excessive joy can harm the soul more than grief, which humbles it; one should rise above both.
1456. 5.404Healing depends most on the sick man's will to be healed, aided by God; a second letter tells a man who insulted another to punish himself by repentance and apology, since he will not escape God's judgment.
1457. 5.406Virtue brings confidence now and at the judgment, vice shame in both, so the choice should be obvious.
1458. 5.407Virtue is necessary, advantageous, noble, fitting, profitable and useful, so only a madman would neglect it.
1459. 5.408Magnanimity is steady in good and bad fortune, while pettiness rises and falls with events like a tidal strait.
1460. 5.409The unjustly rich man who pities the poor philosopher is the truly wretched one, unaware like a madman.
1461. 5.410Love of glory is hard to escape; those without good deeds must first practise virtue, those with them must learn to despise glory, awaiting the time when the righteous will shine like the sun.
1462. 5.411Isidore distinguishes the lover of glory, who seeks praise for real deeds, from the vainglorious, who claims glory while empty of good works.
1463. 5.412Storms of passion in the soul do not come from outside like winds at sea, but from the soul's own indolence in feeding them with looks, shows, luxury and wine.
1464. 5.413Wine in moderation is a blessing and a medicine, but abused it avenges itself with sickness and disgrace.
1465. 5.414Virtue masters every change of fortune, joining management to wealth, moderation to glory, and courage to poverty.
1466. 5.415Isidore asks a sophist to honour a dead man with a fitting oration rather than lavish funeral display.
1467. 5.416Isidore urges a man to forgo revenge, or at least delay it, and invites his learned friend to come and compare his wisdom with Christian truth.
1468. 5.417Zosimus is shunned because every vice has taken hold of him; only virtuous words and deeds can restore his name.
1469. 5.418Isidore praises a governor who blends fear with gentleness, so that his subjects respond with both affection and discipline.
1470. 5.419A governor's merits exceed all praise, and his admirers hope he will surpass even that.
1471. 5.420Virtue shows in being humble with the modest and unawed by the arrogant.
1472. 5.421Frankness rebukes wrongdoers decorously and heals; shamelessness insults the good and harms.
1473. 5.422Though the priesthood surpasses kingship, priests must not lord it over others, since they received it by grace for others' benefit.
1474. 5.423Isidore recounts how two estranged brothers were reconciled with surprising ease once he dared to try, and urges a sophist to attempt a similar reconciliation.
1475. 5.424Christians are defeated by the demons because, instead of fighting together against them, they fight one another on the demons' side.
1476. 5.425Isidore sends the deacon Eutonius to reconcile two estranged brothers and urges them to make peace.
1477. 5.426Isidore warns Zosimus that, though Bishop Eusebius does not excommunicate him as the church once did with sinners until they repented, God's justice will judge them both.
1478. 5.427One who has never laboured has no claim to rest; a second letter urges a governor to pardon a man who insulted him rather than punish him.
1479. 5.429Isidore warns a man who has abused repeated pardon to restrain himself before divine justice overtakes him.
1480. 5.430Good teaching gives reasons and proofs, for true knowledge is knowledge of causes.
1481. 5.431In prosperity remember how quickly fortune changes, and lay up treasures of kindness against reverses.
1482. 5.432Divine justice must punish the unjust; a second letter says the wicked naturally war against the good, as darkness opposes light.
1483. 5.434Isidore defines a paradox as what goes beyond common opinion and custom.
1484. 5.435Isidore urges a deacon to warn those who innovate against church law that what is gained by reckless daring will soon fall.
1485. 5.436Zosimus behaves like the accursed while claiming the honour of the priesthood.
1486. 5.437Zosimus's ingrained vice comes not from his slave birth but from a corrupt upbringing that made wickedness a habit; prayer is the remedy.
1487. 5.438Praise spurs the ambitious, but too much of it makes them slack.
1488. 5.439Teaching writings should mix seriousness with entertainment to hold the attention of the less diligent.
1489. 5.440Rather than accusing Zosimus, which only provokes him, one should lament and pray for him.
1490. 5.441Since many pagans were renowned for virtue, Christians, with their greater advantages, have no excuse for neglecting it.
1491. 5.442Christ's failure to persuade Judas shows that persuasion depends on the hearer's free will, which is also why judgment is just.
1492. 5.443Joy and grief unsettle the unstable, but the prudent rein in the one and master the other.
1493. 5.444Character persuades more than eloquence, as Isidore saw in a recent embassy and as the embassy to Achilles in Homer shows, where Ajax's plainness succeeded where Odysseus's eloquence failed.
1494. 5.445Isidore would choose virtue even if it were punished and vice crowned; how much more, then, should Zosimus, since virtue is rewarded and vice punished.
1495. 5.446Isidore agrees with a deacon's harsh view of Zosimus but warns him that he is beginning to follow the same path.
1496. 5.447Wealth's only merit is the danger it brings to those who love it.
1497. 5.448Bishop Hermogenes, though outstanding in virtue, guards it all with humility, thinking he has done nothing great.
1498. 5.449A good life refutes slander and a bad life refutes flattery; the virtuous judge by deeds, so the slandered good and the praised wicked should be neither troubled nor elated.
1499. 5.450Greed loses even what one has; true wealth is not needing wealth.
1500. 5.451Bishop Eusebius punishes the merely suspected and promotes the convicted for flattery or money, which is no surprise given his character.
1501. 5.452Knowing many arts means mastering none; one should fix the mind on one aim.
1502. 5.453Rebuke should cover shameful deeds with dignified language; one who despises a decorous rebuke will not heed a crude one either.
1503. 5.454Mithridates' precautions against poison only prevented his escape by poison when he wished to die; it is better to live simply and trust God's providence.
1504. 5.455Only those who have learned to obey well are fit to rule.
1505. 5.456Isidore tells the people of Pelusium that their new governor has gladly accepted their invitation and will come.
1506. 5.457Isidore commends to a desert presbyter a man who has trained at home and now goes to the desert for the monastic contest.
1507. 5.458Isidore reports the death of the Christian sophist Harpocras, who taught character more than rhetoric and chose pupils for virtue, not fees, and asks for a successor to be recommended.
1508. 5.459God helps those who do their part; one who wants virtue without effort is like a would-be pupil who never goes to school.
1509. 5.460Since vice is caught more easily than virtue, one should keep company with the good and avoid the wicked.
1510. 5.461The soul, unlike the body, can be made beautiful by free will; even a little progress from vice toward virtue matters, by shunning the wicked and joining the good.
1511. 5.462A governor shows his quality by gentleness and approachability, not arrogance; prudence, not pride, benefits ruler and ruled.
1512. 5.463Passion for the theatre breeds lust, so one should shun it before the disease takes root.
1513. 5.464Isidore rebukes a deacon for endangering those his friends entrusted to him, a sign that he knows nothing of true friendship.
1514. 5.465Answering a sophist who quoted Demosthenes on Conon and Themistocles, Isidore says Christians value neither worldly cunning nor martial courage, but the courage of enduring hardship, and argues that wisdom is the greater strength.
1515. 5.466Bishop Hermogenes' humility and gentleness disarmed even envy; Isidore urges Zeno to imitate him by sealing his virtue with modesty.
1516. 5.467One who wishes to learn deserves praise; one who teaches what he does not know cannot even learn.
1517. 5.468Isidore grants a defeated litigant the favour he asks, though he would have yielded from the start had the man admitted his fault.
1518. 5.469Isidore urges a curial not to shun church assemblies; a second letter describes the injustice of Bishop Eusebius's regime, where the guilty buy acquittal and priesthood, and says God's patience is a call to repentance, not negligence.
1519. 5.471Isidore urges a presbyter to welcome a plot against him as an opportunity to show virtue and courage.
1520. 5.472For priests to use their God-given honour against God is the height of madness; they must keep themselves like sanctuaries, free of every vice.
1521. 5.473True reports, unlike slanders, do not die, so Maron should mend his life rather than resent his reputation; a second letter asks a bishop to warn a powerful man that the church will protect a poor man he is oppressing.
1522. 5.475Isidore tells a clever presbyter who excused his misdeeds with rhetoric to prefer plain truth, since God cannot be deceived.
1523. 5.476Isidore tells four clerics of a holy intercessor who wept over their sins and marvelled at God's patience; further letters argue, with Thucydides and Plato, that character matters more than eloquence, as fruit more than leaves, and that the bad lives of some clergy do not refute this.
1524. 5.479Many unsung people were better than the celebrated; at the end God will reveal the truly glorious, so the envied should not lose heart.
1525. 5.480Only the hope of reward sustains one through virtue's labours; whoever flees them has no hope.
1526. 5.481Ordination is now perilous, since a priest must either keep the apostolic canons and be persecuted, or conform and be lost; better not to seek it, but if ordained, to restore apostolic practice even at the cost of deposition.
1527. 5.482Isidore tells a bishop to lament rather than mock the wicked clergy of Pelusium, and prays for their repentance.
1528. 5.483One should still try to praise those beyond praise, since the attempt honours the intention.
1529. 5.484It is safer to avoid conflict than to depend on allies who may later draw one into injustice.
1530. 5.485Solomon, after indulging in every worldly luxury, declared all vanity; Christians, called to a higher philosophy, have less excuse for clinging to such shadows.
1531. 5.486Isidore excuses his long silence in writing to three friends by his bodily illness.
1532. 5.487Isidore asks a man who was raised by a benefactor as an orphan to become a father in turn to his benefactor's orphaned sons.
1533. 5.488Avarice can never be satisfied by gaining but only by stopping; true wealth is contentment with little.
1534. 5.489Withholding praise from the good brings no good, and slandering them brings harm.
1535. 5.490A continent woman wins after defeat, but a virgin's victory is unmixed with any defeat.
1536. 5.491Isidore rebukes Zosimus for slandering a dead man, violating the laws of nature and even of enmity, since the dead man's soul is avenged by God.
1537. 5.492The same sin is graver in a holy place or at a holy time; a second letter says that needing little puts one beyond injury.
1538. 5.494A young monk, though briefly with the holy Theodosius, has imitated him so closely that his master is evident in his conduct.
1539. 5.495One who sees worldly things as fleeting is neither elated nor cast down by changes of fortune.
1540. 5.496Isidore asks Zosimus, raised in poverty, why he now lives luxuriously at others' tables, bringing scandal on the faith.
1541. 5.497Those who despise wisdom envy the wise because they will not labour for it; the truly wise are those who can defend the faith, since a weak defence makes the doctrine itself seem weak.
1542. 5.498The church suffers because its leaders take common goods for themselves, unlike the first believers who gave their own to the common fund.
1543. 5.499Mockery from the dissolute is no shame, since they laugh at what deserves admiration.
1544. 5.500Greatness of soul follows from heavenly conduct; those absorbed in worldly affairs remain small-souled.
1545. 5.501Nothing is easier than self-deception, since people believe what they wish rather than what is.
1546. 5.502Different people are swayed by flattery or fear, so correction must be suited to each.
1547. 5.503One cannot condemn the world in words while clinging to it in deeds without being seen through.
1548. 5.504Glory comes to those who despise it, since people resist the arrogant and yield to the humble.
1549. 5.505The clergy of Pelusium came too slowly to help a man in danger, who has fallen victim to his enemies.
1550. 5.506Children should be taught first about God and his providence, then about virtue.
1551. 5.507Isidore declines to describe Zosimus's misdeeds and says only that the lower pleasures cause great evils.
1552. 5.508Teachers who do not practise what they teach face a heavier penalty than the merely negligent.
1553. 5.509As outcomes in war are uncertain, those in spiritual combat should not fear their foes but trust in God's help, remembering the many who have won.
1554. 5.510Isidore tells Zosimus, who gives no alms at all, that even giving for show is better than not giving, though giving in secret is best.
1555. 5.511Frugality benefits soul and body, while luxury ruins both and inflames unnatural desires.
1556. 5.512The avaricious soul is tossed by endless storms and knows no rest or peace.
1557. 5.513The rich should not oppress the poor, both because God avenges them and because the poor can bring their oppressors down with them.
1558. 5.514Those who did right before the written law deserve great praise; those who sin after the law and grace deserve no mercy.
1559. 5.515Isidore asks a man accused of keeping disreputable company either to admit it or to disprove it.
1560. 5.516Bearing insults patiently is both easy and best, while retaliation is laborious and fills the soul with turmoil.
1561. 5.517The theatre makes people effeminate and the hippodrome frenzied, so they must be kept from both.
1562. 5.518Virtues shine when free of their neighbouring vices: courage without rashness, gravity without gloom, temperance with cheerfulness.
1563. 5.519The godly man sees through deceit; a second letter says learning should improve the soul as well as the tongue.
1564. 5.521Those who did everything possible to persuade are not to blame for those who would not be persuaded.
1565. 5.522The lover of glory is the lowest of men, its despiser the loftiest; a second letter says those who praise virtue without practising it are better than those who deny it is virtue.
1566. 5.524Maron, justly reproached for his vices, cannot use the language of the virtuous who are slandered from envy.
1567. 5.525One should choose as teachers only those whose lives show virtue.
1568. 5.526Those not improved by God's patience will be punished the more severely.
1569. 5.527One who praises virtue but lives wickedly should not stop praising it but stop sinning.
1570. 5.528Following Isocrates and Hippocrates, Isidore advises a count to eat, drink and exercise for health, not strength, stopping short of satiety.
1571. 5.529Even in this life virtue adorns its lovers in prosperity and shelters them in adversity.
1572. 5.530People judge others by themselves, so it is no wonder Zosimus thinks everyone wicked.
1573. 5.531If Zosimus came to his senses he would see that it is he, not his critics, who is mad.
1574. 5.532Though Zosimus bought only the name of priesthood, obedience to Scripture could still make him a true priest.
1575. 5.533Isidore tells a reader not to resent hardship, since toil leads to crowns and idleness to punishment.
1576. 5.534Isidore defends those who flee a cruel and shameless man who treats the harmless as enemies.
1577. 5.535Unworthy priests and those who ordained them support one another against the virtuous, and claim that God wills what he only permits.
1578. 5.536A presbyter is blamed for his friend Zosimus's impiety, whether as accomplice, as one who failed to stop it, or simply as his friend.
1579. 5.537Because people listen to worldly teachers and ignore heavenly ones, they treat trifles as essential and essentials as trifles.
1580. 5.538Speech and writing should be measured, unless slow hearers require more.
1581. 5.539Even the gravest sins will be forgiven by God if healed by sincere repentance.
1582. 5.540Those who deserted out of fear before the danger would have been useless in it; their absence was a help.
1583. 5.541Hiding one's virtue is good, but using that as a cover for giving it up is worse than open display.
1584. 5.542Gratitude must not be repaid by helping a benefactor in injustice, nor should benefactors demand such repayment.
1585. 5.543Isidore summons a curial who mishandled an embassy to return and give account.
1586. 5.544History and exposition are only demonstrative if they explain causes.
1587. 5.545Satisfaction comes not from more money but from contentment; a second letter says pagan poets and historians taught that glory comes by labour, yet Christians seeking heaven expect it without effort.
1588. 5.547Failure to persuade is the fault of the unwilling hearer, not of the speaker who said what is best.
1589. 5.548A soul walled by the virtues and God's help mocks every assault, like an impregnable citadel.
1590. 5.549God's patience brings mercy to the repentant and judgment to the impenitent, so it should lead to virtue, not to sin.
1591. 5.550A sin that has grown beyond human remedy can still be healed by God.
1592. 5.551Isidore consoles a friend in calamity with the hope to come; a second letter forgives a deacon who was too ashamed to apologize.
1593. 5.553Isidore values friends educated first in character and then in speech, and is proud of those who have both.
1594. 5.554Those who know they are failing may recover, but those unaware of their defeat cannot.
1595. 5.555The soul is beautiful with virtue and beastlike with vice, so we should cultivate the one and remove the other.
1596. 5.556One should be reconciled after quarrels, quickly if possible, since endless rage is inhuman; a second letter urges a bishop to sustain his good reputation by daily virtue.
1597. 5.558After listing pagan definitions of philosophy, Isidore defines true philosophy as neglecting nothing that pertains to piety and virtue.
1598. 5.559Envy is the proof of virtue and the punishment of the envious; the envied should not be troubled.
1599. 5.560True friendship is simple and open, without flattery or hidden enmity.
1600. 5.561The guilty conscience, like a timid man startled by a leaf, feels accused by everyone.
1601. 5.562Isidore tells Zosimus that neither youth's poverty nor old age has restrained his desires, and he must either reform or withdraw from the altar.
1602. 5.563Worldly glory fades like a day-lily while virtue's fame endures; the sensible judge by the healthy, not by the sick.
1603. 5.564Isidore refuses to court the powerful wicked and defends the deacon Eutonius, attacked by the clergy at the bidding of Bishop Eusebius, whom he will not honour whatever the threats.
1604. 5.565Vice attracts many by present pleasure and virtue few by its labours, yet vice ends in shame and fire, virtue in glory and the kingdom.
1605. 5.566Isidore consoles a man grieving at leaving worldly affairs and urges him to keep company with the virtuous rather than the worldly.
1606. 5.567Maron's new, greedy wrongdoing has exposed his earlier act of revenge as wickedness too.
1607. 5.568An adviser, like an advocate in court, is responsible only for speaking well; the hearer, like the judge, decides, and the failure is his.
1608. 5.569In a long final appeal Isidore tells Zosimus that he has defended the validity of his sacraments, arguing that a priest's sins do not harm the layman, as Balaam, Caiaphas and Elijah's raven show, but that people still shun the mysteries and pagans are kept from the church because of him; he must reform or withdraw from the altar.